On The Run
by J.J.88
Summary: They were both on the run for their life, but she had her own agenda. Once she achieved her goal, would they remain together or departed as they promised? Severus & OC [In Progress]
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer** **:** All belong to J. K. Rowling.

* * *

 **Prologue**

"Capture him! Don't let him escape!"

A sea of Aurors and Death Eaters chased after a man in black. This was not a normal scene to see after the fall of Voldemort. A joint of work between Aurors and Death Eaters were totally phenomenon. For those did not understand of this particular behavior, they should look at the man who run for his life, Severus Snape.

To the Death Eaters, Severus was a traitor who was responsible for Voldemort's death. They blamed all the failures to his action, thus, held a high price to capture and tortured the man to death.

To the Aurors, Severus was a Death Eater, who killed Dumbledore and committed many other crimes which they did not have time to investigate yet. They wanted him rotten in Azkaban.

Therefore, two sides joined hands to capture the most wanted man in Wizarding World because they knew how powerful Severus was. He could kill them in a single blast without blinking. The risk was too high, so they agreed to after him together with an agreement, "First comes first serves."

To hell of those damn men, Severus survived the attack of Nagini did not expect things to be like this. Death was an old friend, anyway. But Death failed to take him away, instance, Hermione Granger found him still alive and took the Gryffindor's dignity to save the man's life. She saw the memories he left behind for Harry Potter. She did not want a man that gave up his entire life to protect the son of his love, died in vain. She wanted him to have a life, to free from responsibilities, etc. Well, her ideas hit reality and crashed into pieces.

After the fight with Voldemort, Harry went into a coma. Severus's memory disappeared with him. Without the evident, Hermione's words could not hold any value. Dumbledore's portrait was not able to testify in court. Hence, resulted in this crazy chase.

Severus did not mind to die in Azkaban. He was guilty for many things, and all of them worthed a lifetime in there. However, he escaped Death once, he would not throw his life away again. He kept running while constantly looking back to check on the chasers.

Meanwhile, in the opposite direction, Lalla Bloodworth was running for her life as well. However, in her situation, she only dealt with one side, Death Eaters, and to be exactly, four masked men were after her.

She was running for three days now. She run out of energy and planned. Her magic was not strong enough to kill four of them. And she could not apparate, she was only fourteen years old. Her mind was on a roller-coaster for the past one hour of running. She desperately needed a plan.

When Lalla turned her eyes back to the road ahead of her, she saw someone readied to apparate. Her eyes went wide. That was her way out, the only one. She used all of her last energy to run to that man and quickly grabbed his arm before he event realized what happened. They apparated out of there… together.

* * *

 **Author note:** This is my first attempt to write a Harry Potter's fan fiction. English's also not my native language, so I try my best to alternate my mistakes. If you find any strange sentences or grammars, feel free to notice me. If you are interesting to help with my writing, please contact me via inbox. I will forever in debt to you (lol). Anyway, enjoy the story and I will cross my finger that I will not drop this fan fiction.


	2. The Beginning

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J. K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Beginning**

"For the last time, Miss Bloodworth. We're not sharing the same room," the man in black hissed angrily at the young girl who stood next to him.

"And for the last time, Professor. I am the one that has the money, so one room with a single bed for us," the young girl slammed the money on the counter and gave the receptionist the deadly looks.

"Ah… uhm… you cannot register for a room here," the young man at the reception desk nervously broke in their conversation.

"WHAT?" The girl's eyes opened widely and snapped at the young man.

"You're… uhm… underage to register," he tried his best not to show his fear at the young girl. "But… your father can. Please, may I have your ID, sir?"

The man in black looked at the young man with confused eyes. His face was impassive but a pressured feeling placed on the young man which made him swallowed hard. He tried to repeat the question again, but the man did not respond. His eyes were still on the girl, who shook her head in silence.

The young girl sighed and her voice's tone was soften, "When we arrive to the next destination, I will have more money. We will have two rooms with an adjoining door. But for now, please bear with me until then."

The older man groaned painfully but eventually gave the young man his ID.

A few minutes later, both of them settled in the small room. The man took the chair and sat down tiredly. The young girl threw her bag on the floor and headed to the bathroom. They completely ignored each other's presence.

"Professor!" The girl called out from the bathroom. "Can you give me my bag?"

The room was silent or the man totally ignored her call. The girl continued to call the man for a few times then she stopped. He rose his head up after a while without hearing a sound from the bathroom. She probably got pissed at him again, but he was too exhausted to argue with her. However, to his horror, the girl stepped out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around her small body.

"Miss Bloodworth! Do you have any sense of privacy?" The man quickly turned his face to the other way. His cheek definitely turned slightly pink.

"As I recalled, I tried to ask but someone was too stubborn to give me the bag. So, yeah, to hell with my privacy," the girl said sarcastically while tied her hair into a bun.

"Why did I end up with you?" the man groaned while collapsed his face on the desk.

"Because we have the same enemy," she responded after quickly dressed herself up with a wave of her wand. "Sorry for dragging you to this," her voice was soft this time.

"You have nothing to sorry about… I agree to do this on my own," he groaned again after realizing his stupidity of agreeing on something this messy.

"When we find the box, our agreement will end. You can go wherever you want without someone nagging behind your back again," she giggled a bit at the end of the sentence.

"Sometimes, you sound like an old woman, Miss Bloodworth," his lip twisted up a bit but she could not see, his face still laid on the desk.

"Please, call me Lalla, Professor. We're officially not in school anymore," she moved herself close to where he was sitting. The desk and the bed were right next to each other. She could put her legs on his laps easily but that idea did not cross her mind _yet_.

"Then stop calling me professor," he turned his head to the right and surprised to see her face was beaming at him.

"Yes, dear Severus," she spoke happily with his name hung on her lips for awhile.

"By the way, do I look like your father?" Severus rose an unexpected question when he remembered the young man referred to him as Lalla's father.

"I took after my mother's appearance, so you don't look anything like my father," she answered amusingly. "But we share the same raven black hair and black eyes, it's easy to make an assumption that you're my father."

Severus's eyes were still on Lalla. She did resemble him in away. Her raven black hair was long to the middle of her waist with a thick bang in the front. Her black eyes were big and long. Her skin was as pale as his, but it did not have that death color like him. She was a beauty, especially when she smiled, but she rarely did. Thinking of her as his daughter made he smiled softly at the idea. _That should be nice..._

Lalla wanted to say something else but noticed that Severus drifted off to sleep. She smiled warmly at his sleeping face. He felt relaxed and peaceful. Usually, she pushed him to sleep on the bed with the statement that she was young and he was old. _Old man should not sleep on the floor, bad for the back and for the old scars…_ However, this time, he fell asleep on the desk, she would claim the bed. She did not want to waste the money and both of them ended up somewhere not on the bed.

Laying on the bed, Lalla remembered about their first encounter. It was an unexpected outcome.

Severus and Lalla crossed each other path a month ago in a middle of nowhere. While both of them got chased by their enemies, she found him and grabbed his arm in the midst of his apparating.

Severus apparated to Rosewood Gardens. He had a safe house there. When he landed in the backyard of his house, something pulled him down to the ground. He quickly looked at the thing that caused him to fall and his face turned dark.

"Miss Bloodworth, what are you doing here?" He hissed while grabbing Lalla's wrist. He recognized the girl, she was his student.

"First, thank you for saving me out of there. Second, is this your house?" She completely ignored his question.

"Answer me! What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" He squeezes her wrist harder with each word that he spoke deeply and angrily.

"I apparated here with you when I grabbed your arm, sir," she explained while trying to pull her hand away but the more she struggled the tighter he held. Her eyes began to show a sign of fear and nervous, but they never moved away from his deep dark eyes.

"You… What?" Severus finally realized that he dragged her along from the forest without knowing. "How did you… What were you doing in that place?"

He finally released her wrist while she managed to stand up. She dusted away the stuffs on her robe and hairs. She looked back at him, who was still waiting for an answer from her. She sighed but she would discuss her problem in a place more private.

"Should we go somewhere more privacy to discuss this?" She suggested while searching his face for any reaction, but his eyes were cold.

"Fine. Walk with me," he took a while before responding to her request.

Severus led Lalla into his safe house from the backdoor. Spinner's End supported to be his untouched place, but somehow, the Aurors found out the location and put a tracking charm on it, resulting the crazy chase a few minutes ago.

Severus closed the door and began to ward his place tightly. He did not bother to look at Lalla until he made sure all the areas secured. She stood close to one of the windows and peeked outside from the gap between the curtains. When she heard his boots got close from behind, she turned and smiled at him.

He gestured and led her into his library where there were a couch and a armchair. He pointed her to the couch and he soon got comfy in his armchair.

"So let start again," his teacher mode was on, "What were you doing in the forest?"

Lalla sighed as she pulled her legs up to the couch. Her dizziness was coming back. She leaned back to the couch and moved her attention to the fireplace that was out cold. She began her story.

"Near the end of the Voldemort's fall, there was a special group that he assigned to target my family. My adopted parents got killed at the scene while I was able to escape. I have been on the run for four months, but the last four days, my luck ran out. Somehow, they found out my drop-off location and put a trap there. I almost got caught in it but fortunately I managed to run off. And that was how I ended up in the forest with you. Honestly, at that moment, I could not think of anything, I believed they would soon capture me. However, when I saw you readied to apparate, I took the opportunity right away. Knowing that they can not track down my magic because I follow you. And you're a powerful wizard, you will know how to keep your magic away from the detection. Hence, I am here with you."

Severus listened her story carefully and never made a sound the entire time. He noticed she remained calm when she talked about the death of her adopted parents or even when she mentioned the Death Eaters. She was too calm for her age.

Then, Severus remembered the last task Voldemort hung out. He wanted to track down a certain book that could benefit to his future plan. Severus knew about the incident at her house and tried to report back to the Order, but they never came through. At the moment, he surprised to see those carried out the task were still on. _Did he miss something in those last meeting?_

"So what do you plan for now on?" he curiously asked her.

"I will continue my search while looking for a partner," she said.

"A search and a partner?" he cocked his brow at her answer.

Lalla did not respond right away. She looked down to her hands; there was a set of silver rings on her left hand: one on the index finger and the other one on the pinky finger. Her thumb played with them for a while.

"Yes, a search and a partner," she nodded. "Do you want to be my partner, Professor Snape?"

His arms now crossed front of his chest. He cocked his head to a side as he observed the girl. Many things run in his head and he wondered if he was even alive by the end of this month. It was hard to hide away from the Death Eaters, and now added the Aurors. He had too many things on his plate already. _A partner?_ He questioned himself at the idea.

Lalla breathed softly and she continued, "In my current state, my magic was very weak. I was lucky to survive until now, but from now on, I wonder how long I will last, sir. I need someone as powerful as you are to help out." She stopped for a bit and observed his reaction, but the man showed nothing, just quietly listened to her. "This partnership will benefit both of us. You only need to act as a protector for three months while I search for the item. Once I find it, I promise you that no one will ever bother you again. I can make you disappear forever and you can live the life you want without worrying about the magic world."

 _A life without worry? Disappear forever?_ That sounded too good to be true, but knowing Lalla, Severus knew the girl would not lie to achieve her goal. She was a Hufflepuff after all. He had nothing to lose now. He could not stay here for long, sooner or later, they would eventually caught up. If he went with her, at least, they would not know his whereabouts. _Three months will pass quickly_.

"And what exactly do you need my magic for?" Severus finally spoke.

"To activate the item I am looking for and to protect me," she replied quickly. Her face lighted up as he got more interested in her proposal.

He could see her eyes were beaming like a happy puppy waiting to be pet. He smirked and nodded, "Let's go over your plan then, Miss Bloodworth."

* * *

 **Author note:** Yup, new chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it :)


	3. The Collabration

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J. K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Collabration**

Severus woke up around midnight. His neck and back ached badly. He tried to rub his neck and realized that he slept on the chair. His eyes moved slowly to the bed and found Lalla slept soundly with her back facing him. It had been a month since he agreed to be her partner. They went to multiple locations across England to seek for the box. Each time, they only stayed for three days and left, even earlier if she could not sense the box's presence. She had a strange habit of not staying anywhere more than three days. At least, this made their enemies less likely to find them. He stood up and headed to the bathroom. He needed a hot bath right now. Every single joints in his body were aching like ants were biting them off.

A few minutes later, Severus buried his body deeply in the water. His head leaned back to rest. He closed his eyes and his body's muscles began to relax. His mind turned off from thinking and it was nice to have a moment without worrying what would happen next. Lalla kept her promise of not being a burden to him. She did most of the works, even had a mystery financial support from anonymous source. All he had to do was guarding her and kept her safe most of the time. However, since the day they departed from Rosewood Gardens, not a single soul continued to pursuit them. He did notice the strange change, but nothing else appeared to rise his suspicion. He let the matter died down for now. Therefore, he did not do a thing since he met her.

"Bathing at mid-night is dangerous, Severus," Lalla suddenly popped her head into the bathroom without warning and made Severus jumped up horrifying.

"Damn it, Miss Bloodworh. What is wrong with you?" Severus grabbed the the curtain and closed it immediately. And he heard she chuckled to his reaction.

"It's not like I haven't seen a naked man before. And with all of these steam, I barely make out of what exactly you are hidden down there," she could not stop her giggling.

"You're fourteen for Merlin's shake. Why do you talk like you are ten years older? Act your age!" he shook his head not understanding her odd behavior.

He was waiting for her reply, but she did not. She stared at the shadow of the man on the curtain for a moment then she turned around and left the bathroom. He remained there until he made sure that she left the room, then he quickly got out of the bathtub. _It supported to be relax. Damn it!_

When he stepped back to the bedroom, he saw Lalla laid a map on the floor. She marked the one they went before and circled the next locations. He wanted to say something, but decided not to make the night more tense than it was. He moved his chair close to the window and sat there, staring clueless through the glass. Her behavior was a bothering to him since they began their journey. She spoke, acted, and thought completely different than a teenager.

The room went silent for an hour until a raven appeared at the window. It used its beak to knock on the glass. Severus recognized the bird, it was from Lalla's anonymous source. He opened the window and took the letter it was carrying. The raven departed immediately after that. He opened the letter and his eyebrows knitted together.

"Miss Bloodworth, you need to read this," he came close to where she sat and handed her the letter.

"The name is Lalla, Severus," she took the mail from his hand without making any eye contact and reminded him about their agreement of using their given name.

She opened the letter and scanned them quickly. She sighed and threw the letter on the floor.

"Stupid Aurors," she cursed.

"Welcome to my world, Mis-Lalla," he smirked but coughed awkwardly at her given name.

"Yeah, right, thank you," she chuckled.

"So what do we do now?" he asked. "With their interfere, our mission will get more complicated."

"I know but we have traveled by Muggle transportation, and minimize the use of magic. We will be fine as long as we stick to the plan," she sounded confident in her plan.

He nodded as he agreed with her. They had prepared their plan to the smallest details. He trusted her instinct and she believed in his promise.

"I wonder what triggered them," she walked close to his chair and leaned to the wall with arms cross below her breast.

"Well, we did make a _marvelous_ scene at the last location," he said sarcastically.

"It was not that bad," she did not seem to agree with him. "Was it?" But then she started to question herself as well.

This incident happened a week ago when Severus and Lalla reached to their next destination, Witley Park in Surrey.

They arrived late in the evening. Usually, they would rent out a room to rest and began the work in the morning. However, Lalla had no plan in booking a room, she headed straight into the ruin mansion. Severus followed her and kept a very close distance between them. The evening was cold but bearable. Witley Park at night spread out a mysterious atmosphere. He had heard about the place before but stood there and looked at it brought up a different sensation.

Inside the ruin, it was dark and quiet. Severus saw Lalla trailed her finger along the broken walls that led out to the underwater ballroom. She was humming a lullaby. The first time, he listened to it, he did not quite understand the sound. It was a mix of an old children's song and something else that was not easy to detect its origin. He had asked her about the lullaby, but she refused to answer. She only said that it helped to relax her mind.

The path led them out to the lake located behind the mansion. He could see a broken statue in the middle. Underneath the statue, there was a dim light tried to reach out of the dark water, flicking like stars in the night's sky. It was fascinating beautiful scene. Lalla carefully got close to the edge between the water and the ground, where she saw a round iron crossed-bars that secured on the mouth of a big well. They both looked down and barely saw a thing below.

"I think we should go back here tomorrow's morning. Tonight is too dark to investigate anything. We cannot even see our hands clearly." Severus grabbed Lalla's arm and pulled her back from leaning to low to the well. He feared she might lose her balance and fell in.

"As much as I want to go in the morning but this particular location needs to investigate at night," she felt her body drew close to him, the weather was getting chillier.

"Fine. Then go tomorrow's night. We're both exhausted from a long day. We need to rest and bloody eat as well," he said grumpily but subconsciously put his arm around her shoulder as he noticed the change in the temperature.

"Well, now that you mention it, I do feel sleepy and hungry," she yawned tiredly and almost buried her face in his chest but she turned around and grabbed his hand along with her.

That night they found a motel and quickly drifted off to sleep in their room. It was indeed a long day.

The next morning, Severus woke up at four in the morning. He looked to Lalla's bed and found the girl was still snoring softly. He rose up and headed to the bathroom. After taking a quick shower and changing to a new set of clothes, he woke the girl up. It took her nearly thirty minutes to fully awake.

"What time is it now?" Lalla rubbed her eyes and kept yawning.

"Five in the morning," Severus replied.

"That's early!" she said horrifying. "I do not need to wake up at five, Professor. Why did you wake me up?"

He gave her a look that she could not identify. _Do they look nervous? That is interesting._ She tapped her index finger on the mattress as a habit while she was thinking. Then he continued, "Today, I don't want to go out alone." His eyes shifted to a notebook that laid opened on the desk. A date was underlined and small note appeared next to it, _Sev's Birthday._ His finger was lingering at the note. That was not his handwriting. _Lily..._

She actually rose one of her eyebrows up and looked at him disbelieving, "When did the infamous Potion Master afraid to be alone?"

She saw a flick of change in his eyes and she sensed that nervousness increased. She slipped off her bed and got close to his side. She put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, "I will go out with you today." Then she leaned in a bit more and pressed a soft kiss to his temple before heading to the bathroom.

Sitting in the bathtub, Lalla breathed in and out, trying to calm her mind. Seeing him like that made her heart strangely ached. She knew her feeling toward him, but if the plan failed, all of these _nonsense_ would die as well. _Why do I keep torturing myself?_ But she made a promise to him, to let him free from this world once everything was back to normal. _Normal…_ the word echoed in her head again and again. And if it could not get back to the way it supported to be, she would keep that promise. She exhaled deeply as she brought up her left hand. The set of silver rings were beautiful. She smiled faintly at them and tried to rest her mind for a little bit.

Meanwhile, Severus still sat on his bed, unmoved. His entire senses gathered at where her lips touched _softly_ on his skin. He could not identify the feeling that was rising. _I don't understand. Well, I don't understand any of these._ He groaned and brushed those hairs that hung in front of him to the back. He looked to the window across from his bed and saw the sky brightened up. _Today is January 9th._

An hour later, they finally got out of the motel. They remained quiet on the road. Lalla tried to look at Severus's face a few time, but he kept his emotions hidden well. It was weekend so the street was not busy. Lalla could hear the sound of his boots hitting the ground. The sound was faintly soft but when she tried to focus on it, it became the only thing occupied her mind through the walk.

When they saw the first diner, they picked it right away, not wanting to spend more time outside. It was cold and too _quiet_.

Inside the diner, there were not many customers. An old couple sat at the far end of the room. A young man with glasses sat near the entrance. And three teenagers were chatting happily in the middle of the room.

Severus quickly spotted a table that sat lonely near a window. She followed him without asking where they headed too and surprised at his choice. That was the spot she wanted too.

"What do you want?" Lalla sat close to Severus and poked at his arm while asking.

"Miss… Bloodworth, please behave yourself in public," Severus coughed uncomfortably and covered his face with the menu. "Coffee." He did notice that she never sat across the table, but always on his side.

Lalla chuckled at his reaction then ordered a cup of black coffee and omelet with sausage for him, and hot chocolate and a bowl of soup for her.

"What do you want to do for the rest of the day?" She took another sip of her hot chocolate and stole a look at him.

"I… don't really know," he shook his head and took his coffee up. His thumb ran along the side of the cup. He honestly never spend a day for himself. _What did I usually do on my birthday?_ He wondered and found out that he was either dealing with a bunch of dunderheads or meeting with the Dark Lord. _Birthday and the Dark Lord were a bad combination._ However, today, there were no students to deal, no Dark Lord to serve, and no plan to occupy his time.

He looked lost and her eyes curiously studied him. She watched his thumb rubbing the side of his cup.

"We can stay here and enjoy some _family_ time," she put her small hand on the back of his palm and patted it softly.

She could see his hand jerked slightly but he did not move it away. She smirked and did not remove her hand either.

The diner started to play some musics in the background and it was enjoyable. She recognized that song, it was _The Color of The Night_.

 _[…]_

 _'Cause all I want is just once  
To see you in the light  
But you hide behind  
The color of the night_

 _[…]_

An image appeared in her head immediately as the lyric hit her ear. Her eyes moved to where her hand was and found out that he did not make a move. _His food is getting cold._ She withdrew her hand and covered her mouth tried to hide her giggling. Meanwhile, he quickly got back to his breakfast which tasted oddly warm. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, she just did a wandless warming-spell for him. _Wandless at fourteen?_ He frowned at the question but decided not to bring it up now.

 _[…]_

 _I'll give you everything I am  
And everything I want to be  
I'll put it in your hands  
If you could open up to me oh  
Can't we ever get beyond this wall_

 _[…]_

Lalla sung quietly along without noticing that Severus was watching her. His eyes locked on her lips. Her lips' movement was very attractive. He felt his lips began to sync with each word of the song. Until the diner's door open blew the cold wind in, he snapped out of his mind. _This is awkwardly wrong. Focus on something else, old man._ He tried to move his eyes elsewhere but soon they drew back to her again. Yet, this time she caught his eyes and he flinched away.

"Ah… uhm… are you done yet?" He cleared his throat and tried to look _normal._

She just nodded and looked at him curiously. The music in the background was still playing.

 _[…]_

 _'Cause all I want is just once  
Forever and again  
I'm waiting for you,_

 _I'm standing in the light  
But you hide behind  
The color of the night  
Please come out from  
The color of the night._

She walked slowly behind him. His broad shoulder and his tall frame were more obvious now. She put her hand up and tried to measure her height to his. She barely made to his mid-waist. If she grew well, she might get closer to his shoulder. Yet, she seemed to doubt it. She was a small girl to begin with. Puberty would not favor her.

He opened the door and another wind blew in. His leather jacket moved slightly. She smiled as she remembered about his robe, he had not used it since they began their mission. She definitely missed his fabulous movement with it. But he still favored his black color, and she liked that. She liked that color.

Leaving the diner, they headed back to the motel. The road on the way back was silent as before but it was more enjoyable.

"Thanks for today," Severus spoke up as they settled down in their room.

"Anytime," Lalla turned around and smiled at him, but quickly got back to her work.

Severus did not take his eyes away from her. The edge of his lips rose up a bit but hardly noticed as he looked at her. She always focused hard when it came to her work. He liked to see her sitting with her legs cross and scratching madness in the notebook. Sometimes, he wondered what she was writing there. Then he turned his attention back to his own notebook, where he wrote random potion's ideas. He missed his lab. He always thought that his love for Defense Against the Dark Arts was greater than Potion. However, he had not touched the ingredients or smelled their strong fragments for sometimes, and this made his hands felt itchy. Also, the heat of the lab, the boiling sound, and the sleepless night were something that he might not able to experience again. He closed his eyes as he let his mind drifted off to some of the old memories.

By the end of the day, they packed their stuffs and readied for the night. They took the cab and it did not take them long. After thirty minutes, they stood in front of ruin mansion again.

This time, they did not waste any minute. They headed directly to the well. Severus unlocked the lock and lifted the bars with his wand. Lalla, on the other hand, took out a small silver knife and held it with her wand.

He walked down first and lumos his wand. The way down was incredibly dark and the stairs were slippery. He offered his hand to Lalla and she took it. He guided her down slowly and once they were at another locked door, he had not released her hand.

After unlocked the second door, they continued following the stairs. It took them almost twenty minutes to walk down to the underground ballroom. Even with the light from their wands, they hardly saw their surrounding. He still grabbed her hand tightly. If there was enough light and he turned around to look at her, he definitely saw her cheeks were burning red.

Finally, they reached to the ballroom. To their surprise, there was electricity light down there, not much but enough to see the room.

"They should have these on the way down here," Severus complained, still not realized of their hands.

"Probably, they don't expect people to go down here in middle of the night," Lalla commented, finally pulled her hand away from him slowly. Her fingers touched faintly at the tip of his fingers. She did not want too, but she had a mission to finish.

In the meantime, it took him almost a minute to process what happened just now. By the time, he registered the event, he quickly walked across from where she was standing, and hid away his embarrassment.

Lalla did not pay attention to him or her surrounding anymore. She let her eyes scanned the whole room from top to bottom, left to right. Then she walked to the middle of the room and took the knife from her left hand. She mumbled something in her throat. Once the chanting ended, she used the knife and quickly cut a small line on her index finger. The blood soon run slowly out and blended to her wand. She began another chanting.

The blood from the tip of her wand dropped to the floor, one by one. Each time it touched the floor, a glowing of crimson light appeared and forming a line maze. The lines quickly spread through the entire room and within a minute, it covered the room completely.

When the chanting ended, a small hole appeared on the floor. She took her wand and plugged it inside. She turned her wand circularly back and forth five time and when she heard a click sound, she took her wand out.

Severus walked close to Lalla and they waited. Not a minute away, they felt the ground began to shake.

"Shit," Lalla cursed under her breath. "Professor, run now."

Severus looked into her eyes for a second and without saying a word, he carried her out of there. It was a crazy run since they got chased by their enemies. Gladly, he was quick, they escaped the underground ballroom before it collapsed and disappeared under the water. Light broke out and flew messily to the sky.

They stood near the well and saw the whole thing crumbled down. Severus still carried Lalla in his arms. Her arms hung around his neck and she did not want to get off. However, he soon noticed what he was doing, he coughed awkwardly, "Miss Bloodworth… you can get off me now."

She sighed softly but did not protest. She looked at the light was still faintly visible in front of them.

"We should go now," Severus urged her. "The Aurors will soon track down the magic's energy from here. We cannot stay here for long."

"I know, just…" she was trying to say something but shook her head and tugged her arm into his. They apparated out of there.

* * *

 **Author note:** Yes, a new chapter is here. I was planning to have it out on Snape's birthday, but it took me longer than I expected. Anyway, enjoys the story as always! Love 3


	4. The Ambush

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J. K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Ambush**

Around eight in the morning, the motel's receptionist saw the father and the daughter arrived late last night. The young man rolled his eyes, he did not want to deal with them again, especially the older man. Before he could make his escape, the man stood in front of him with his _unpleasant_ face.

"G… Good morning… sir… How may... I help... you?" The young man stuttered.

Severus remained silent and stared deeply to the young man. He enjoyed his unusual habit of scaring off his students, now was this young man.

Lalla could sense that Severus was in a _good mood_ of torturing the poor guy. She put the room's key on the counter and said, "We come to return our room."

The young man exhaled gladly as he heard what she said. He smiled at Lalla but refused to make any eye-contact with Severus. She smiled back and pushed him out of the motel.

"You are so mean to him," she complained as they existed the motel. "What had he done to you anyway?"

"He called me, _your father_ ," Severus sneered.

Lalla suddenly stopped and frowned at his reply. Then she laughed uncontrollably, she patted his back and said, "Well, so he earned it then."

Severus smirked knowing that she got his joke. She hugged his arm and pull him to go with her. For the first time, he did not flinch away from her touch. His lips twisted up a bit as if he was smiling. He enjoyed this companionship between them. She was odd at time, but she had an unique aroma that he started to get used to.

They took a cab and continued to the next location, Loseley Park. This was a drop-off location. Lalla was looking forward to it. She failed to get it at the last location, so they had a difficult month, forcing them to rent a room with mostly a single bed. _We will have a room with an adjoining door_. Her words suddenly echoed back in his head. He should glad to ease that problem, but he did not look forward to it as before.

It was more than two hours of driving. While in the car, Lalla fell asleep and rested her head on Severus's arm. He moved his arm slowly around her and let her head leaned comfortable at his chest. He looked down to her and could not resist of brush her hairs softly. She was so carefree, so trustful. He had not asked her yet of her trust in him. No one could trust him without knowing him personally. Dumbledore was the only who could completely trust him, but the old man used that trust and made him became an important piece in his plan. She did not use their trust like that. She basically just gave her life to him and asked him to protect it. _Did she fail to remember of his crimes? Killing Dumbledore? Being a Death Eater?_ She should have run away from him, not toward him. His fingers moved slowly through her hairs. He closed his eyes to enjoy a rare moment of this unknown peace.

Then, the thought from last night appeared in his mind again, _a daughter_. He sighed and felt his heart ached, it reminded him of their relationship: a professor and a student. The girl was fourteen years old, she was going through a teenager's phrase. She would have acted a certain way because of her hormones. But he could not let his confused mind tricked him. He was the adult in this situation.

The cab stopped in front of the gate to Loseley Park. Lalla yawned tiredly, she woke up with a blurry vision. She stepped out of the car and waited for Severus. When he turned around, he saw Lalla was watching him. Her eyes tried to read him. _Did she notice his feeling?_

"Where will we go now?" Severus asked while following behind Lalla.

"To the back of the mansion," she replied. "Do you want to share what you are thinking, Severus?" She noticed his mood changed. She wanted to know what caused it.

Severus stopped and looked at her. He opened his mouth but the words came out were not the same as he was thinking, he lied, "I was thinking of your DADA."

"Oh, why?" Lalla made it sounded surprise but he could sense she did not satisfy with his answer. She knew.

"With the Aurors came into the play, you needed to more practices in fighting spells. I was trying to remember how was you doing in my DADA's class," Severus picked up his speed as Lalla increased her pace.

"I did fine in your class, but in real-life situation, I never actually fight," she said.

"What did you mean by _never actually fight_? How did you survive those months without me?" Severus got surprised at her answer.

"Run, hide, and run," she scratched her head, nervously replied.

"Oh Merlin, and I thought you was trying to be sarcastic when you said you ran out of luck," Severus put a hand on his face. "You should have told me."

"Told you what? _Professor, I am so suck at fighting, may you tutor me while we're running for our life?_ " she now sounded sarcastically and pissed off. "My priority at the time and even now are to get the _fucking_ box. Did you fail to notice that we barely have time to stop and rest in the past month? I... believe in your ability to protect me," her voice trailed off in the end.

Severus just stared at her and decided to walk away. His face was darken. Lalla shook her head and cursed under her breath. She had no idea why it came out so wrong. Did the mission finally wear she out? She shook head, not knowing what to do. He looks hurt. She run after him, trying to apologize, "Severus! Sorry for snapping at you."

However, Severus remained silent. Lalla sighed and stepped back. She bit her lower lip and said, "You stay here and wait for me. I will be back soon."

Severus was confused as much as Lalla. He knew the stress of the mission finally crashed on her. That was something he was aware of, but hearing those words from her, it was unpleasant. He felt hurt. Nonetheless, he had a job to do whether he was upset or happy, he made a promise to her.

"Hey, Lalla," he turned around and tried to catch her, but she was not there anymore. _Damn it!_

Severus saw her small form moving far away from him, soon she disappeared behind the mansion. He rolled his eyes and chased after her. Unfortunately, he heard her scream when he was halfway there. The blood of his face completely drained. He rushed to the place and saw four masked men cornered Lalla.

Lalla walked away from Severus with a very unstable emotion. The early conversation kept repeating in her mind. She did not pay attention to her surrounding. When she took the turn, and walked absent mind to one of the statues. Suddenly, a chill run down her spine, she knew something was wrong. Yet, it was too late.

Lalla turned around just in time to see a bright light flew directly to her. The spell hit her right into her ribs, breaking the bones and cut a deep wound on her flesh. Her body crashed to the wall and dropped down to the ground like a death meat. She tried to get up, but the pain was so strong, she could not even move. Then someone grabbed her by her throat, and lifted her up. She could not breath. It was then she sensed _him_.

Severus saw one of the men grabbed Lalla by her throat and brought her up. His wand pressed hard at her throat. He was saying something to her. Her small hands tried to take the man's hands off, but it was useless. Severus quickly scanned the surrounding to adjust the situation.

Severus yelled out _Expelliarmus_ and disarmed the four masked men's wands at the same time. He took them by surprise. _Crusio_. Another spell dispatched from his wand and hit the man who held Lalla, caused him to lost balance and released her throat. Severus took the opportunity and stepped in front of Lalla with his wand pointed at them. His back was to her.

"Snape!" One of the masked man recognized the attacker.

"Constable," Snape acknowledged the man, who lost one of his arms.

"Well, so the rumor is true. You actually escort a young girl. So does _she enjoyable_?" Constable sneered while taking off his mask, knowing they had no chance to win against him. At least, he could get some information out about why Severus went with the girl.

"None of your concern, Constable," Severus warned. "Take your man and leave now. Or you can fight me and die here."

"Fine, but you know we will go after her again," Constable chuckled. "Does it worth to get yourself in the middle of this?"

"Like I said before, none of your concern," Severus repeated.

Constable was not foolish to push Severus further. He gestured at his men and they disappeared, leaving a few black dust behind.

Severus checked the surrounding one last time before turning around and looked at Lalla. She was on the ground, unmoved. He checked for her pulse and it was still there, but weak. He frowned and quickly unbuttoned her coat. Inside, her blood soaked her white t-shirt into a crimson color.

"Is there something wrong?" Someone approached Severus from behind. "Is that… blood? What had you done the girl?"

Severus moved in a flash and before the man knew, he was unconscious on the ground. He picked her body up and apparated out of there. He had no time to think. _She is dying…_

 ** _[Flashback]_**

 _"Hey, Professor."_

 _"Huh?"_

 _"I want to show you something before our mission begins."_

 _"And?"_

 _"Lean your forehead down… good… touch mine… can you see it?"_

 _"A mansion?"_

 _"My safe house."_

 _"Why do you show it to me?"_

 _"If something happens to me, please bring me back there. Will you?"_

 _"I will."_

* * *

 **Author note:** First of all, best thanks to my two reviewers. You guys definitely made my day. Secondly, after chapter 3, I will try my best to update the chapter soon, but it may take to a week or two due to Vietnamese Holidays. Besides that, enjoy the story. Love.


	5. The Mansion

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J. K. Rowling.

* * *

 **The Mansion**

Severus held Lalla's body close to his. The minute he apparated to the designated location, he ran inside the mansion. He wandlessly opened the front door. Inside the mansion was soulless. He did not have time to dwell on the mansion's condition but could not help to notice how rundown it was. He carried her up to the second floor and chose the first room he saw. Another wandless spell at the door and it opened for him.

Surprisingly, the room was different from what Severus expected. It was neat, fresh, and human. He quickly laid Lalla down on the bed and did what he needed to. He vanished her coat and rolled her t-shirt passed the fresh wound. He closed his eyes and hissed painfully when he saw the wound. The spell cut deeply into her flesh, almost revealing the bones inside. This was not the first time he saw a wound, but his mentally battle could not get over the fact that he failed to protect her. He breathed heavily, trying to focus back to her. Then, he waved his wand and cast _Tergeo_ then followed by _Vulnera Sanentur_. The wound healed slowly with the tip of his wand moved carefully along the wound.

After Lalla's wound sealed up, he took out a small box from his jacket's pocket and expanded it. He opened it, revealing a fairly amount of potions. He took out Blood-Replenishing, Pepper-Up, and Sleeping Draught. He lifted her head up and let it leaned back a bit before opened her mouth and pour in the potions, slowly one-by-one. When the last drop of the potions slipped into her throat, her face regained its healthy color. He let her laid back down to the bed while cleaning up the blood on her t-shirt, fixed her clothes, and tugged her in.

Finally, he pulled a chair next to her bed, sat there, and stared at her sleeping face. His breathing slowed down. She was out of danger and it made him felt less guilty about the event. But it did not mean that he stopped thinking about it. The image of her laid lifelessly on the ground, the blood soaked her white t-shirt, the paled face, the wound cut through her flesh, and everything of today replayed in his head like Muggle-film. His eyes began to get heavier. He closed them for a few seconds then opened again. He feared of losing the sight of her because last time, he did, she almost died. Eventually, he could not fight against his sleepiness, he drifted off to his _world_.

Neither of them knew how long they had slept, but when Lalla opened her eyes, she saw Severus's head rested on the edge of her bed with his hand held her. She traced her thumb on the back of his palm while remembered the previous event. She still remembered the face that grabbed her throat and threatened her life. His words echoed endlessly in her mind, "Stop running kid, we know where you will go."

She sighed as she came to a sad conclusion, someone must tip her off to the Death Eaters. Only three people knew about her mission and she felt a wave of sadness if one of them turned out to be a traitor. Her eyes fixed on the ceiling while trying to process her thoughts.

"Hey," Lalla heard a soft and familiar voice called her and before she registered what happened, a hand touched her forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Severus," she saw his face came close to her and her hand subconsciously touched the line of his jaw. "I'm sorry."

"Shh…" he put his finger on her lips. "It's not your fault." His hand was still on her forehead, "You have a fever." He headed to the bathroom and came back with a cloth soaked with warm water and put it on her forehead. "Feel better?" He asked gently.

Lalla nodded and left out a heavy sigh, "I should have listened to you."

"Partly of your injury is my fault," Severus sat down to his chair. "I should not make an assumption that you know how to fight. Surrounding mainly with the Golden Trio, sometimes, I forget children should not involve in this mess in the first place."

"Circumstances create chaos," Lalla looked back to the ceiling. "It was a stupid mistake that neither of us should make. However, I will take your offer."

"Without pissing off this time?" his usual mood was back.

"Yes, _without pissing off_ ," she chuckled softly. "I have been thinking about the last three locations we went, something is off."

"I notice them too," Severus agreed with her points. "How many people know about your mission?"

"Three…" her voice broke off. "And without of their supports, we will have a hard to time to finance ourselves. That's why we need a new plan and…"

Before Lalla could continue her talk, both of their stomach protested angrily. They could not hold their laugh from embarrassing. Severus took the cloth off and felt her temperature. It was still a bit warm but she did not show any sign of tiring anymore.

"Do you know where we can look for foods?" Severus asked her while soaking the cloth with warm water in the bathroom.

"The kitchen may have some," she replied.

"Are you sure?" he walked out with disbelieving in his eyes and put the cloth on her forehead again.

"Why did you ask?" she sounded surprised.

"Your house is a very bad shape, barely holds up," he said firmly. "I don't think the kitchen has any food at all."

"But this room…" she began to say but realized something, she smirked. "Severus, give me your hand."

Severus frowned, not understanding her motive, but he still gave her his hand. She held his hand gently while removing one of the rings from her pinky. When he saw the ring, he almost withdrew his hand away but she grabbed his wrist before he could do anything else.

"What are you doing?" he yelled horrifying.

"I'm not proposing to you. If that's what you are thinking," she giggled and placed the ring to his thumb. The ring adjusted its size when it touched the wizard's skin. There was a small glow when the ring fitted into his thumb. She was chanting something, and he was sure, he heard the words _Semper Sodales_ (Forever Soulmate).

"Please say the name, Cadfael," she told him.

He hesitated and his eyes still glued on the ring. He kept looking back and forth between the ring and her eyes. She gestured to say the name. After a while, he finally called, "Cadfael."

A small white fog gathered from inside their room and quickly form into a human figure. A middle age man with silver hair, who was in a butler suit, stepped out of the fog. He bowed politely at them and said, "Welcome home, Master and Mistress."

Severus's face turned as pale as he saw Lalla laid lifelessly on the ground when he heard the word, "Master." He turned to her and pointed to the ring, "I definitely heard you said _Semper Sodales_."

"Yes, I did, but not in that context," she defended herself while trying to hold her laugh. "The spell is for the rings, not for us. I do not have the power to call for Cadfael, this house's butler. However, you have the capacity with both power and magic. Therefore, I transfer half of the ownership's right to you. I believe Cadfael put on a protection enchantment to make the house looked like a rundown house. Is that right Cadfael?"

"Yes, Mistress," Cadfael nodded.

"But I did not feel or sense any ward's protection while carrying you inside," Severus questioned but his eyes never went away from the ring.

"Cadfael took down the ward at the moment we apparated here. He has the ability to sense anyone who entered the property and he knows I only share this place to people I trust the most. He takes it down so whoever with me can enter without getting themselves killed," she explained.

"And you prepare this room as well? Why not the whole house?" Severus turned to Cadfael and asked.

"There are limitation in what Cadfael can and cannot do," Lalla replied.

Before Severus could continue his interrogation, their stomach growled again. He groaned annoyingly and gestured Cadfael to leave the room. When he was at the door, he turned around and said to Lalla, "This conversation is not over."

Lalla gave Severus that unusual smile which showed all her teeth. He grumpily walked out of the door and joined in with Cadfael.

"Now, Cadfael. Let restore the house and cook something," Severus groaned again, lazily walking along with the butler.

"Yes, Master," Cadfael nodded politely.

"And stop calling me Master," Severus snapped at the butler.

"Yes, Master," Cadfael totally ignored Severus's order.

Severus shook his head and took the lead, walking down to the first floor. Cadfael followed after his new Master, and Severus failed to see the interesting smirk on the butler's face. He definitely enjoyed _annoying_ him.

* * *

 **Author:** And Lalla's still alive. Woohoo! This chapter was the worst of all. I wrote and rewrote more than ten times just to make it right. It was frustration T^T Anyway, it came out alright. Enjoy and review. Love as always ^^


	6. The Truth

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Truth**

Lalla sat up after Severus and Cadfael left the room. She hissed painfully of the wound's movement. She summoned her wand and accioed her notebook. She hurriedly turned the pages and soon found what she was looking for. _A potion's recipe_. She needed a new plan and it would involve this recipe. She hesitated in telling Severus about this new direction. She had no idea how he would react to what she would finally tell him, which she did not plan to at all.

Lost in thought, Lalla did not notice that Severus came back with a tray of foods. He put the tray on table and put his hand on her forehead to feel her temperature again. His touch for the first time made she flinched away. Her eyes opened wide and almost disbelieved of seeing him there.

"Are you alright?" Severus could not catch her reaction, he asked.

"I'm… fine," she mumbled as she looked down to her note book.

"Let eat first before we want to discuss anything," Severus broke the tense atmosphere around them.

"That sound good," she nodded.

They ate their meal quickly. Neither of them said a word during the meal. The tension was back again.

An hour later, after Cadfael took the tray away, Severus took a shower, and Lalla changed to a new set of clothes, they gathered in the study room. Severus and Lalla sat on the couch and Cadfael left the room after bringing two cup of teas.

Lalla's wound was still in bad shape, so she sat close to Severus and leaned comfortably to him.

"Before you talk about the plan, I want to know more about this ring," Severus pointed to his ring.

"And the questions?" Lalla snickered.

"Fine," he sounded annoyingly. "What do you mean by giving me half of the ownership? Does it have anything to do with Cadfael keeps calling me, Master?"

"These rings are my family's heirloom," she began. "Their _original_ job is used in marriage…"

Lalla could feel his body stiffened but he remained impassive and his hand squeezed hard on her shoulder. His eyes wandered else where, not at her.

"However, not all Master or Mistress has a partner," she continued while rubbing the back of his palm with her fingers. "This particular changes because of my mother. She had me without a husband, or she probably did not want to share his identity. Therefore, the rings can wear together or separate to different people with or without a legally marriage. And the spell I used bonds your power with the ring and by linking to the rings, you can share half of my responsibility of whatever involving with the family."

"In some contexts, it does sound like a marriage," Severus sneered, knowing of why Cadfael referred him as his Master. "Except, we don't put the rings on the right finger."

"That's one of the differences," she chuckled at the word, _marriage_ , which he said more comfortably now.

"But why me? I'm your… protector, not someone you can trust with this much responsibility…" he paused, unsure if it sounded right.

"Do you remember when I told you about needing your power to open the box?" she reminded him.

"Ah, so the ring served as a connection?" he nodded as quickly understood of what she meant.

"Yes," she continued. "In original plan, I would give it to you right before we opened the box. However, we need to change our plan, giving you the ring right now will benefit for both of us."

"And talking about the plan, what do you have in mind now?" his voice seemed to calm down and less tense than before.

Lalla took out her notebook and gave it to Severus. He was surprise because she never let him touched the book before. He sensed something that would change their relationship's dynamic if he opened it now. Nevertheless, he accepted it but lingering of open it.

"I want to tell you something before you open it," Lalla swallowed hard while trying to make the conversation sounded normal. "Lalla Bloodworth… is not my real name and I am not fourteen years old." She paused and searched for his reaction, but again, his face was neutral. "I'm the last heir of Lefevre, Ethelinda Lefevre. Twenty-four years old."

Severus cocked his eyebrows and looked curiously at Ethelinda. He did not feel angry but rather calm and relief. She just answered the mystery he was trying to solve for a while. _Twenty four? That's ten years older than she is now. De-ageing potion? Why?_ He lost in his thought. His mind wondered off to when he first became a Death Eater. _Lefevre_ … Then he remembered about it, the first mission he joined, The Massacre of Lefevre.

"I remember you," Severus suddenly spoke, his voice was calm and gentle, no hint of disappointing but rather guilt. "You're that child in the attic. Right?"

She nodded and smile faintly at him. _He still remembers._

In Severus's memories, that particular night of twenty years ago was vivid as it was yesterday. It was a special gathering of Lefevre's family. Everyone was there, from the long-lost uncle to the head of the family, from the main bloodline to different branches. Children were running around the house while the adults engaged in a deep conversation. No one noticed that there were a force that came to their way.

A bright light hit through the protection enhancement, disabled the ward, and smashed the windows' glasses to pieces. Freya Lefevre, the current head of the family, immediately urged the servants to take the children away. The remain adult took out their wand and readied to face whatever was coming. Not a minute away, a wave of dark figured flew in and the peaceful night turned into chaos.

In that midst of fighting, a man took off to the dark hallway. His job was not to kill off those people out there but to look for an item, a book. He went from room to room but nothing came close to what the Dark Lord had described. Then he stopped at a room in the far end, its door did not close completely. He pushed the door and walked in slowly. His senses focused strongly of his surrounding. There was something in that room was different than the rest of the house.

Inside the room was dark. Severus whispered _lumos_ and the tip of his wand lighted up. He looked around and surprised to see it was a child room. Children books, stuffed-animals, and toys were laying on the floor. He strolled the room as he was done with others. Nothing came up. He sighed and planned to walk out, when a tiny sound caught his attention. His eyes moved quickly to adjust the room again. The ceiling had no room for a hidden attic. _Perhaps, a hidden room?_ He frowned and went ahead with his hypothesis. He waved his wand to detect any charm or enchantment in the room. Unfortunately, there was nothing. Then, he heard the sound again.

This time, Severus turned his heels to his left. He located the sound, which led him to the wardrobe. He curiously opened it, moved all the clothes to one side, and revealed a hidden door. He smirked. _This's too easy._ However, life tricked people sometimes. When he reached to the hidden door, it only fit a kid, a small one to be exactly. _Bloody hell!_ He cursed under his breath. For a Muggle, that would be a problem, but for a Wizard, nothing was impossible. He mumbled a spell and the door's size became bigger and an adult would definitely could go through.

He stepped in and found a ladder led to the ceiling. _Interesting._ He smirked as he climbed up the ladder. By the time, he reached to the attic, it was pit dark. He looked around through the light from his wand, but barely made out a thing.

"Hey," a soft and childish voice suddenly called him, making him grabbed the ladder a bit tighter.

Severus looked to the direction that the sound came out. When the light from his wand touched the face of the person, he froze at the spot. A child with black hair and black eyes looked curiously at him. She wore a simple white dress which gave out a very ghostly look. She crawled carefully toward him. Before he knew, her small hand touched his face. A cold and chilly feeling shot down to his spine. She leaned her head to a side as she tried to look at the face hid behind the long black hair.

"You looks lonely," she whispered.

He lost in words, not knowing why the girl made him wanted to run away as fast as he could, but at the same time, wanted to stay and felt her cold and inhuman touch. He involuntarily reached out and touched her small cheek. The same cold and chilly sensation sent out from her skin to his fingers.

"Stay still and don't make any sound, kiddo," he whispered gently to the girl, wanting to hug her for some unknown reason.

A voice approached in the distance and alarmed him immediately. He looked at the girl one last time and climbed down, disappearing into the dark. That was the last time he saw and heard from her.

That night Voldemort successfully erased the name of Lefevre from the Wizarding World.

Severus looked back at Ethelinda, his thumb was rubbing her cheek. It was no longer cold or chilly, but warm. Her eyes met his, his gaze was different, it was happy and _love?_ It was an emotion she did not expect to see from him and it made her a bit of curious.

"What happened after I left?" He asked gently as his eyes never left her.

"Cadfael found me and sealed up the door led to the attic," she grabbed his shirt and buried her face in there. "The next day, he took me to one of my mother's acquaintances, Jonathan Reid. Cadfael could not leave the mansion for a long time, so he entrusted my life to Jonathan. After that, we moved to America to prevent anyone to track me down. I lived there under a different name and attended Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when I reached to the age of eleven."

"Then why did you use a de-ageing potion?" He continued as he brushed her hair as he always did.

"Before my graduation date, a letter came to Jonathan warned him of someone began to investigate my whereabouts and headed to America very soon. Without further delaying, he took me back to England, stating that if I attended Hogwarts, I would be safe. Therefore, I drank the potion and became Lalla Bloodworth," she sighed, seeing her life had been steering around by other people.

He pulled her close to chest as his arm wrapped around her comfortably, whispering softly to her ear, "Mystery solved."

Ethelinda looked up to Severus with clueless eyes. He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

"Your behaviors always bothered me," he leaned his forehead to her own, noticing how close their face to each other. "You acts, talks, and dresses are not a _normal_ teenager. At first, I thought you tried to be a grown up, but after sometimes, I realized you did them as a habit.. And that made me even more confused. But listening to your confession just now, all my doubts or rather curiosities can rest peacefully."

Now it was her turn to laugh with a bit of moaning due to the pulling of the muscles near the wound. He joined her laugh as well while trying to pull her even closer to him. Neither of them expected an outcome as this one.

"So, my little Mistress, how can I assist you in this new plan?" He playfully asked her without noticing he called her, _his little Mistress._

Ethelinda took the notebook, which laid on the couch for sometimes, and opened to where the mark was.

"I need an Ageing Potion, my Master," she did not fail to play her word back to him.

Severus tried to hide his flushed by grabbing the notebook away from her hand and started to read. _She calls me her Master. Merlin, I am hopeless against her now._ He frowned as he was in a very deep thought. His other hand still rested on the back of her waist, rubbing small circles to it.

"Most of these ingredients are for a normal ageing potion," he said flatly. "I don't mind to brew one for you, but where on earth do I look for the blood of a hybrid between a vampire and an angel? Do they even exist?"

"You're looking at one of them," she cupped his chin and moved his face back to her.

He stared at her, trying to process another confession threw to his face again. And when the process finally came through, he said in disbelieving voice, "You're a hybrid?"

She nodded and said, "I won't bite you, if that's you are worrying."

"Really?" he chuckled and kissed to her forehead again. "I'm the bat of the dungeon, do you think I will fear a _little_ vampire?" He joked and hid his surprise to know about her status. He knew the Lefevre's family had a little bit of unknown power but he never imaged that it actually related to their blood.

He gave her a face more like I-am-dare-you-to-bite-me and she laughed her head off. His lips twisted up to a faint smile as he watched her.

"Now, you need to rest. And I can ask Cadfael where I can set up a lab to brew the potion," he lifted her up and carried her back to her room.

After she settled comfortably on her bed, he leaned down and kissed her again, whispered gently to her ear, "Sleep well, my little Mistress." Then he turned around and left the room, leaving a very flushing girl.

Outside of her room, Severus stumbled at Cadfael, who waited for his Master's new order.

"Good job, Master," Cadfael's voice was calm and polite, but did not fail to mock Severus.

"Oh, shut up, Cafael!" Severus groaned but could not hide the crimson color on his cheeks. "We have more things to do. Show me the basement now."

"Yes, Master."

* * *

 **Author note:** I planned a very serious discussion between Ethelinda (Lalla) and Severus, but it turned out a bit soft, especially Severus. A friend says that my version of Severus is cute as Alan Rickman's cute. Haha. I will leave this chapter as it came out. I tried to fix it but it just went back to the same soft, cute, and lovely atmosphere. So I gave up. Anyway, enjoy reading and reviewing the chapter. Love to everyone!


	7. The Team

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Team**

Somewhere at an unknown location, a secret meeting was being held. The place of the meeting was a room with no windows that was located down in the dungeon of a ruin mansion. A very dim light from the candles was flicking as if it would go off at any moment. In the middle of the room, there was a table with five chairs on each side. One man with a hood, who sat on the right side of the table, was writing something in his journal. The second man, who had his long blonde hair tied neatly behind his head, was pacing impatiently. The third man with dark skin was reading the Daily Prophet.

"This was not supported to happen," the pacing one said angrily. His face frowned to a tired and exhausted expression.

"Who could have known he was there?" The one with the hood exclaimed while continuing his journal.

"I warned you two about the incident in the forest, but you guys did not listen to me," the last one huffed. He folded the newspaper and put it down on the table. Tonight's meeting seemed to go unwell.

"She is wounded now," the one with hood tried to ease the tension was building up. "It should be easier to capture her."

"Are you too optimistic?" the pacing one sneered. "As long as Severus is there, we have no chance in winning."

"With Kingsley's Aurors and your Death Eaters, together we can make this happen," the one with the hook smirked, knowing well on how to make this team worked to its highest advantage. "Capture him first and then the girl, it's a win-win game for us."

This was a meeting between a minister, Kingsley Shacklebolt; a Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy; and a vampire, Novas Le Mort. They were people with different ambitiousness, but held one same goal, captured Severus Snape and Lalla Bloodworth.

Severus was a high value criminal that could boost Kingsley's trust in the government and Lucius could use him to regain his power in the society and in the Death Eater's circle. Lalla, on the other hand, was more favorable toward Lucius and Novas. They knew about her truth identity and the book that Voldemort had sought before.

"When Constable attacked them, where did they go after that?" Lucius asked.

"My guess, she is at her safe house," Novas responded.

"And?" Lucius pushed.

"Sorry, but she never shares that location with anyone," Novas shook his head and his voice was a bit shaking.

"My Aurors can track down the location if they disparted out of there," Kingsley added.

"I'm afraid that your Aurors will not be of much help this time," Novas dismissed the idea. "The location of her safe house is unplottable. Also, it has a very strong protection enchantment around the house. Even, if we are able to track down her house, we have no way to enter it. We can only wait until she leaves the house."

"Constable slipped the girl pretty bad," Lucius sighed, remembering about the unfortunate news that his followers brought back. "I hope with Severus's help, she will recover soon."

"You sound like you are worried about her," Kingsley picked up on Lucius's tone of voice.

Lucius had stopped his pacing for sometime, standing steadily with his gaze held at Kingsley. He smirked and pick up his coat and cane, heading toward the door. Then he stopped and turned around, looking at the other two, "And would it be a problem if I care about her?"

When Lucius saw the surprise face from Kingsley and Novas, he gave a wry smile and turned on his heels, walking out of the room. The passage was long, narrow, and dark. He did not hurry. He strolled slowly as he thought about what he just said. _Was he truly worried about her?_ Half of it was true, he did care about the girl but he knew clearly of where his true motive laid. She was a Lefevre, _after all_. Only fools would let her slipped through their fingers.

Lucius took out a pocket watch from his vest. His thumb rubbed on the surface of the watch's cover. The pattern was the signature of the Lefevre's family. His eyes gazed into the distance, not sure of how his feeling was playing. He missed a certain person, his _bodyguard._

The passage led Lucius out to the back of a ruin mansion. He immediately apparated out of there. A minute later, he landed at the front gate of his manor. He stared at it for a moment then shook his head, he disapparated. The place held too many sad memories.

Meanwhile, Novas and Kingsley still stayed behind.

"Why did you help him?" Kingsley broke the silence. "Vampires are never fond with Wizarding's politics or whatever happens to us, why now?"

Novas moved his eyes away from the journal and looked up. A part of his face showed under the dim lights of the room, revealing a square face and one of his eyes was silver, he said, "I definitely do not care about your politics. I join this ride purely because of Lalla Bloodworth and Lucius shares the same passion as me."

"Lalla Bloodworth is just a kid," Kingsley wanted to know more of the girl. They always mentioned her name as some sort of important person, but never told him the truth regarding their motive. "She has no value in your game."

"Then, you do not need to know further, _my friend_ ," Novas stood up and left the room, leaving an awkward silence behind. He and Lucius agreed that they would not share about Lalla's true identity to Kingsley. They knew the man had his own agenda, and it was not a very bright one if he knew about the girl.

Novas stepped out to the forest and saw the night was slowly coming. The sun was no longer visible. He looked up to the sky and inhaled a bit of the nature's scent. His head hurt as he tried to clear the image of Lalla's slipped body. Lucius's men were the worst in capturing the girl. They did not support to harm her, just needed to bring her back to the mansion. _I hope that Severus guy take care her well._ He sighed and apparated away, knowing his plan still had a long way to go.

 _[Flashback]_

" _Novas, I will attend Hogwarts next month" a eleven years old girl with a pony tail jumped around Novas, who was twenty-eight at the time._

" _Why don't you homeschool like others?" He rose a brow at the energetic girl._

" _That's boring," she run around him. "I want to meet new people."_

" _But I will be your private teacher," he picked her up and spun._

" _I don't want you to be my private teacher," she laughed happily._

" _And what do you want me to be, Your Highness?" he asked curiously._

" _My husband."_

 _[End of flashback]_

* * *

 **Author note:** Sorry for the delay of posting the new chapter. I had a writer's block in this chapter and could not process it smoothly. It's a bit short but I promise the next chapter will make up for this. So let have a glimpse of the groups that chased after Severus and Ethelinda. Enjoy the new chapter then ^-^ And don't forget to review \\(^o^)/

 **Specially thanks to my beta, Hero of Olympus in Disguise ^x^**


	8. The Feeling

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Feeling**

Ethelinda was on the bed for another two days until Severus finally agreed that she completely healed. After the day of the confession, they tended to speak less than usual. He only showed up to check for her wound and gave her some regular healing potions. And during those visits, he rarely asked more than two questions: "Anything different?" and "Drink these." _They were not even a complete ones._ She sighed annoyingly at his sudden change in his behavior. She buttoned up her shirt while remembering about their last nice conversation. _It was normal and a bit of fun. What happened after that?_ She put on her black skinny jean, her jacket with a hood, and her boots. She walked out of her room and closed the door behind her. She headed down to the basement, his new sanctuary.

The stair that led to the basement was not much of different than the one to the Potion's class in Hogwarts. Ethelinda felt the irony in the situation and shook her head while smirking. She never went down to the basement when she lived here, so she took the time to go. Yet, she did not really focus on her surroundings. Mostly, her head still wrapped up of how to propose the questions to Severus. She knew the man could get very nasty if the words came out wrong. Nevertheless, he had not showed that side of him to her while they worked together. Therefore, she hoped their conversation would somehow turn out nicely.

By the time, Ethelinda reached to the end of the stair, she saw a wooden door that was slightly opened. The light from inside of the room peaked out through the door's gap. She stood there, unsure of what she would do next.

"Come in," Severus's deep and velvet voice shook Ethelinda out of her thinking.

She inhaled deeply and pushed the door to open. The room was large with a long table in the middle of it. There were new shelves that lined up against the walls and were mostly filled with potion's ingredients. She could see the steam, felt the heat, and smelled the fragment. It was definitely like she was back to the potion class. She stood there, amazed at the sight of her former Potion professor, who was working on the potion. For a minute, she thought she saw him in a slow motion from chopping ingredients to controlling the temperature of the cauldron.

"Hey," she walked close to him but kept a safe distance. The last time she was next to someone while they were brewing, the cauldron got exploded.

He did not rise his head and hid his face behind his long hair, he asked in his neutral voice, "Something wrong?"

She kept her eyes at his hands, she replied, "Nothing wrong with me. It's more like what is wrong with you?"

His eyebrows knitted in and then smoothed out, "What do you mean?"

 _Finally a complete question. That looks promising._ She thought hopefully of a further conversation.

"Something in you change," she began. "In the last two months, we had some arguments, but nothing ended with a silence like this. You barely speak more than two sentences, and just now, is your longest one. I thought we were fine after the talk. What happened, Severus?"

Severus stayed focused to the cauldron, "I don't want to talk about it." His voice was cold and distant.

Ethelinda looked at him with disbelief. He refused to talk. She knew something definitely went wrong and she seemed to sense the cause of the problem. It had to do with the talk they had two days ago. She felt a strong wave of anger in her. She did not like when people denied a discussion. She hated to be left out. She felt an urge of slashing at him, but took a deep breath and calmed herself down. She could not let her anger messed thing up again. She bit her lower lip and said, "It seems that you are not in the mood for talking. And you know me, I will try again tomorrow."

She turned her back to him and walked straight out of the door. She did not bother to see his reaction, which she knew he would not show any.

When Severus heard her footsteps fade away, he left out a heavy sigh. The girl was good in picking up his mood. He pinched at the bridge of his nose as he remembered about the night of two days ago.

That evening, after seeing the basement, he was surprised to find a complete set up for a potion laboratory. Even though, some of the equipment was old, but whoever owned them, put a reverse charm which kept them as good as new. With not much things to do down there, Severus went back to his room. An unknown feeling crept inside him as he settled down to his bed. _Happy?_ He felt strange at the new sensation. He did not understand where it came from, but he enjoyed it, an expensive pleasure that he could not afford. He laid down to his bed and closed his eyes. The image of Ethelinda appeared in his mind: her beautiful smile, her joyful eyes, and her warming touch. _She was… his happiness._ His hand was reaching out to catch the image of her but it disappeared, replaced by a pool of blood. _No…_ The blood quickly pulled him into it. He felt his body was shaking and struggling to grab for air. In that short moment, the images of people, who he failed to save, reappeared in front of his eyes. _You failed; failed to save another person, again._ Someone would come as far as asking for his help. Someone would put her trust in him blindly. Someone did not fear of who he was. And he failed.

He sat up terrifying. The sweats ran down his face. His body was shaking uncontrollably. It had been years since he last had a feeling like this. _Since Lily…_ He scared; scared of losing someone so close to him again. _Close?_ _When did she become close to him? When did he enjoy of her company? When did all of these absurd feeling appear?_ His hand wiped down on his face, trying to clear out the sweat.

He stared into the dark room, repeating the questions in his head like a madman. His hand unconsciously touched the Dark Mark on his forearm. It was still there, not visible as before but enough to remind him of what he had done wrong in his life. He closed his eyes and decided to push those feeling he had for her was. It should not be there. It was the cause of her injury. If he had focused enough and followed her, she should not get that _ugly_ scar. He needed to be her protector, not _a… lover?_ He sneered at the idea. He definitely got too comfortable around her to misunderstand his own feeling. _That was it, a mistake, nothing more._

After two months into the partnership, Severus withdrew to his shell. He forced himself to believe that whatever his feeling for her was a simple attraction. She was a piece of chess that oddly appeared in his game and amused him. However, she was not something he needed in his life. He needed no-one and even if he did, she was not the one. _He did not deserve her._ He began to keep a distance to her. He believed the less they interacted the less likely he would be confused and so she was.

Severus brushed his hair to the back and returned to the current brewing. Her potion needed to finish as soon as possible. Now that she recovered fully from the incident, the potion would not have any conflict to her body.

While the man was torturing himself with the idea of rejecting the girl, Ethelinda bored herself in the library. She had stared at the book for more than fifteen minutes but barely read a word. She was not sure which book that she took off from the bookshelves. Her mind drifted off to him, again.

"Mistress," Cadfael spoke softly, trying to call her back from her thinking.

"Hmm?" She was not focusing but was still able to identify the sound.

"Why did you give him the ring?" He finally asked about the family's heirloom.

"I need him to open the box and help out here," she explained.

"You know what I am trying to ask, Mistress," he pressed the matter.

Ethelinda closed the book and observed Cadfael's expression for a second. She sighed, "Yes, I have the intention to pursuit the man. No, I have not done anything _outraced_ yet."

"Yet?" He rose one of his eyebrows and shook his head. "Please be careful in what you are doing, Mistress. I am not against in your choice of partner, but I do not want to see you make another mistake like your mother. Besides, that man is a little bit strange. Are you sure he is not a vampire?"

She gave Cadfael a funny look, she said, "No, he is not a vampire, Cadfael." She paused, thinking of her situation, "Do you know why he acts strangely around me?"

Cadfael poured another cup of tea for Ethelinda, he replied, "I think you already figured out the answer."

"You're not helping," she huffed and returned to read her book.

Cadfael gave her an interesting smile and disappeared out of the library. Ethelinda stared at the spot where her butler stood a second ago. He was right. She knew that her talk was the cause, but not sure of which parts finally pushed him to the edge. She bit her lower lip as she was thinking. _Was it about her true identity? Or her age? Or…_ She paused, a thought suddenly crossed her mind, _was it about him?_ She fell back against the couch, realizing that she knew a very little about her former Potion Professor. Being his student for four years, she barely talked to him. She tried to investigate him out curiosity but nothing came back useful. He was a very private man and _a spy._ She knew she would never understand what he had experienced; but she had enough understanding to see what laid behind his protection shell. People who had gone through traumas needed time to heal and adapted to a new environment. And one of those techniques of getting to understand was trust. _Trust, shit._ She groaned, realizing what had been missing there in their relationship. She allowed herself to trust him but not the other way around. She closed her eyes, knowing this change in their relationship would become a trouble if it continued on.

Ethelinda opened her eyes as she came to a conclusion. She needed to talk with him again.

The clock in the mansion chimed at midnight. The sound echoed through the house, breaking the ghostly silence. Outside, the moon was high and bright. It lighted up a part of the living room. She stood there, near one of the windows, waiting for him. When a sound of someone's footing approached close to the living room, she turned a found the person she was waiting for.

"Severus," she called him in a calm manner.

The man stiffed and subconsciously drew his wand out. When his focus was clearer and he saw her face. He withdrew his wand immediately.

"Here," he took a vial out. "The potion you requested is done."

Her eyes dropped to his hand, she looked a bit of surprise. She did not expect him to finish the potion early, but she did not really know when he started to brew. Suddenly, she lost her voice, not sure of where to start. Therefore, she took the vial from him.

The touch of her fingers briefly brushed in his palm, making both of them shivered oddly.

"Thank you," she finally found her voice.

"It's late," he spoke up. "You should take a good rest."

He tried to avoid her by making the conversation as short as possible. She, however, wanted to clarify the problem between them. She grabbed his wrist and said softly, "Please stay, Severus. We need to talk."

"No," he refused in his snaky voice as he pulled his wrist away from her. "I'm tired. I do not want to play with your little game. There is nothing we need to discuss"

His eyes locked at her face, waiting for some kind of reactions, but nothing happened. She remained calm but her eyes studied his face. She tried to understand the situation.

"I'm not playing any game," she stated. "I want to understand what I have done wrong to create this problem between us. However, I'm not sure anymore. You sound like those past months never happened, and this… no, our relationship turns from friend back to… I don't know what kind of relationship we are in now."

His lips moved as he tried to say something, but then, he did not know what he would say. She mentioned that they were friend. That meant something to him and so for her, but somehow, he destroyed that little connection between them. He wanted to explain why he reacted like that to her, yet his stubborn resisted himself from taking that first step.

She waited for him to make any comment, though, only silence passed between them. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes briefly. When she opened her eyes, she said, "If this is how you choose to end this problem, then I accept it. From now on, strictly professional communication between us. I'm apologize for any misbehavior that I acted on you. Those will never happen again. Good night, Professor."

With that, she turned her back to him and walked away from the room. She blinked and tears silently ran down to her cheek. This was not how she planned, she did not want to make things became more complicated. Nothing had solved and the gap of misunderstanding between them just got farther.

"Good night, Miss Lefevre," he whispered to the spot she stood a moment ago. He successfully reformed their relationship.

A cloud blocked away the moon's light, making the living room darker. Severus sighed and headed back to his room. He always got what _he wanted_.

" _Sometimes, all you need is a little bit of communication, and neither of them agree to make that move," a voice sighed in the shadow of the room._

" _That will make her decision easier later on, no lingering," another voice whispered._

" _But I like the guy. Oh, he reminds me of my dear husband," a female voice added._

" _Oh, just shut up, woman. I am far handsome than him," a male voice sneered._

" _I am talking about his personalities," the female snapped back. "You? Handsome? You are nowhere close to Novas."_

"Seriously, you guys?" Cadfael suddenly appeared from nowhere. "The mansion has listed as one of the haunted places. You guys are not helping by appearing here."

" _When did that happen?" a voice surprised._

"Maybe another time, not tonight," Cadfael shook his head, not wanting to begin a long tale with these unwanted visitors.

" _Do you think they will make up?" the female voice asked._

"I don't know," Cadfael sounded unsure. "But like Thomas said, it's better this way for her and him later on."

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally, it's here lol I'm apology for this delay. Read and review then, everyone :)

 **Specially thanks to my lovely beta, Hero of Olympus in Disguise ^x^**


	9. The Separation

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The** **Separation**

The next day, Cadfael found his Master and Mistress in a seriously bad mood. Neither of them attended their breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Both of them also gave him a deadly gaze when he appeared unannounced in their rooms.

Not until the evening that both of them accidentally crossed their path in front of the library.

Severus, who was hiding away in the basement, made a note in his journal of the potion's recipe that Ethelinda gave him. He had heard about some alternative ingredients mixed with the potion during the brewing, but using blood was something new. When Cadfael handed the vial of Ethelinda's blood, he asked the butler about the recipe and knew that it belonged to the founder of Lefevre's family. He looked around and came to a conclusion that whoever the founder was, that person was definitely a Potion's Master. As much to his curiosity, he remained in the laboratory and refilled his traveling stocks. He did not know how long they would stay at the mansion, so he tried to keep up with potions that only needed to brew in a short time. However, the truth was he was avoiding her.

Around eight in the evening, Severus finally dragged himself out of the basement. After scaring Cadfael away, his stomach made the ultimate protest of hunger. He grumpily murmured something to himself, probably cursing his hunger. He took another look at some of the potions he was brewing before heading down to the kitchen, planning to cook something by himself, rather than called his butler and saw that mocking face again.

Not much different than Severus, Ethelinda buried herself in the library with her quill and a blank parchment laid boring on the desk. Her mind wandered to their last conversation and realized she was hardly paying attention to anything at all. She blew softly to the end of the quill's fur. She knew they needed a plan for the new change in their power and… _their relationship_. However, she could not get herself over their last conversation. She rubbed her temples and leaned back against the chair.

Her eyes trailed off to the ceiling, a painting of a night sky with stars and a full moon. She wondered who came up with the idea but it was helpful to relax her mind. Then she remembered something she told Cadfael long ago.

" _Cadfael, will I ever go outside?" The four-years-old Ethelinda sat comfortably on her butler's lap in the small attic._

" _Yes, you will, Ethel," he replied gently as he kissed her hair._

" _Anytime soon?" She worried, not knowing when that day would finally come._

" _Very soon, dear," he ensured while wrapping his arms around her, providing some comfort to the child._

" _I want to the see the sky at night, Cadfael," she murmured, starting to get sleepy. "Novas says that the sky at night is the most beautiful scene of the day… stars and moon…"_

She smiled faintly at the memory. He probably was the one who suggested the painting. She let her mind drift away for a few minutes and finally looked back to the blank parchment. Her left hand tapped on the desk's surface as she was thinking of a new plan. Then, the idea arrived at last.

When the block in her thinking lifted, she quickly jotted down the different directions they could approach. After two hours of writing, she concluded one final plan. It was not a perfect one but the fastest one they could work out. Besides, without the two ambushes of the Death Eaters, they did not even need this absurd new plan. She frowned as she remembered about the suspect she had prior to the talk with Severus.

"Cadfael!" She called.

"Yes, Mistress?" Cadfael appeared next to her desk and waited for her order.

"Where are the contracts?" She narrowed her eyes at Cadfael and asked.

"Which one are you looking for?" Cadfael with his usual voice wanted more details in her request.

"All of them," she dropped her eyes back to the parchment.

Cadfael nodded and snapped his fingers. A box with beautiful crafting appeared in front of Ethelinda. Her wand tapped softly on the lock and the box opened, revealing a stack of contracts inside. Her fingers flipped through them quickly, her eyes moved up and down in an unnatural speed.

"If you can call the contractor's name, the right one will fly out," Cadfael suggested.

"The problem is, Cadfael, I don't remember their full name," she grumbled while looking through the contracts.

Cadfael looked amusingly at his Mistress. She forgot that she could basically give him the given name and he would find the one she was looking for. However, he just let his Mistress enjoy her work, she needed something to distract her from the Master.

The finding took more time than Ethelinda expected. Until seven-thirty in the evening, she finally pulled out the three she was looking for: Dave Hogan, Donovan Norman, and Thanos Poindexter.

"Not Jonathan Reid?" Cadfael knitted his eyebrows together when he saw the contract she pulled out.

"No, he left me here the moment I entered Hogwarts," she said sadly. "I have not contacted him since then."

Cadfael remained silent, his eyes wandered off to somewhere else, thinking of the man with a very disrespectful face. In the meantime, Ethelinda read the contracts thoroughly and to her butler's surprise, she burned them all.

"Mistress?" He screamed, horrified.

"Don't worry," she soothed him. "I will form a new contract with them, but not until I find the box."

Cadfael let out a relieved breath. He almost thought she would disown the best three servants in the family. As much to his own curiosity, he decided not to ask her the reason behind her action. Freya might tolerant to his noisy interesting, but he doubted Ethelinda would. He sensed her change the moment she stepped back to the mansion. It seemed that the one bad gene from her father's side finally caught up. It was better to avoid asking too many questions at this time.

"I need to check on something in my mother's room," Ethelinda stood up as she led herself to the door. "You can leave the box there. I still have some work with it."

Cadfael nodded and disappeared. Ethelinda opened the door and stepped out, unaware of someone passing by.

"Ouch, watch where you're going," she whimpered but quickly remembered that there were only two people living in this mansion, not counting her butler. "Sev… Professor?"

Severus half closed his eyes when he strolled along the hallway, when something stumbled him. He squeezed his eyes and then slowly opened. For a second, he almost did not recognize the young woman in front of him, if not for her soft and perfectly soothing voice. Under the light from the study room and the hallway, Ethelinda in her twenty-four's body was wearing a white shirt, opened two buttons at the collar, with her favorite creamy skinny jeans and no shoes. His eyes scanned carefully at her from top to bottom, noticing how round her face became to have a more grown-up feature with light make-up. Her hair was put neatly into a braided side bun and the color was slightly off, more like a darker-brown than a raven black liked she used to have. Her eyes were still pit black as his but it did not lose its beautiful and mysterious form. And when he moved to her lips, he just stood there and stared. He nearly licked his lips as he watched her lips move. _That bottom lip is very eatable._

"Professor?" Ethelinda watched him and his strange reaction. He probably surprised to see her in her adult form, but the way he looked at her was _unexplained._ "Are you alright, sir?"

Her question drew Severus back to reality. He cleared his voice as his face was successfully blank. His eyes fixated at her, his lips moved as he spoke, barely noticeable, "Nothing that concerns you, Miss Lefevre."

She pursued at him but did not make further comment. She already hated the way he addressed her, so she did not want to listen to his surly insult right now. Nevertheless, she still needed to thank him for brewing the potion for her.

"Uhm… thanks for the potion, Professor," a sudden awkwardness rose in her voice. "It worked perfectly."

"I can see it worked… to its best," he smirked. "Although, you hardly make it to my shoulder."

Ethelinda frowned, then she realized he just made a joke about her height as he walked closer to her. Her face turned scarlet, she directed her eyes to somewhere else.

"Ah, uhm… I worked out the new plan for us," she continued the conversation while nervously tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. "If you are not busy, may we meet at nine in the library?"

His eyes gazed at her for a second then he nodded and walked passed her. She let out a heavy exhale the moment his footsteps were no longer audible. _This will be a long night_.

Ethelinda led herself to her mother's room, which was located deep at the end of the hallway. Staring at the rusty door, with five different locks, she sighed annoyingly. This mansion was not the original one that Severus encountered her long ago. However, her mother had created a spell to secure her room and made it movable. Therefore, when this mansion established, under Jonathan's supervision, he was able to relocate the room to this new one. Unfortunately, the woman was a bit paranoid, she sealed the room with too many difficulty spells and locks. Not to mention that, she was the one who hid the stupid box in the first place. _Crazy woman!_

She waved her wand and began to lift the ward, then she continued to unlock the locks. When she finished, the clock in the living room chiming at eight-thirty. She groaned grumpily as she entered the room. However, her feet stopped immediately. The room was vacant. There was nothing in the room, not even the floor's carpet.

"CADFAEL!" she yelled angrily.

"Any request, Mistress?" Cadfael appeared right next her, bowed and waited for her order.

"Raise your head up and look around," she placed her index finger under his chin and lifted his head up. "Tell me! What the bloody hell is happening here?"

Cadfael frowned but his eyes quickly adjusted the scene in front of him, "Interesting."

"WHAT?" She definitely lost her temper. "Lower your head, NOW!"

When he lowered his head to her level, she smashed pretty hard to the back of his head.

"Say something more productive this time, Cadfael!" she ordered while tapping her right foot on the floor.

"The only person that has accessed your mother's room is Jonathan. If you want an answer, he will be more _productive_ than I am," he smirked.

"You!" she groaned as she stormed out the room.

She was not planning to contact Jonathan. She wanted to keep this mission away from him as long as possible. However, she had a feeling that sooner or later the old man would know of her plan. She hated him.

The old clock in the living room chimed again, reminding Ethelinda and Severus of their nine o'clock meeting. She sighed and headed back to the library with Cadfael followed behind.

"Sorry for the smash, Cadfael," she suddenly spoke, feeling terrible at her action earlier.

"Don't worry about it, Mistress," he smiled faintly at her, knowing she really did not mean to outburst at him.

"Will you not call me Mistress?" she stopped in front of the library and asked her butler. "It reminds me about _her_."

"Sorry, I can't do that, Mistress," he shook his head, refusing her request. "You know the reason."

"So it's true," she nodded slightly and pushed the door led to the library.

She was not surprised to see Severus was there, waiting for her. She gestured her butler to leave. However, the man lingered for a second and then patted her head softly before he retreated. She flinched at his contact but quickly felt a sense of closeness with him. She smiled to herself while walking toward where Severus was sitting, unnoticed the man's eyes was watching her.

"It's late, Miss Lefevre," Severus told her. "Can we do this tomorrow?"

Facing her back to him, she rolled her eyes, "It won't take too long, Professor." She grabbed the parchment laid on the desk and turned around, heading to where he sat. "You know that we still have four more locations to visit. Now that you have the ring, we can divide the works."

"You want me to perform the spell at those locations?" he asked while his eyes observed her.

"Yes," she nodded, ignoring his intense look. "The faster we unlock the spell, the quicker I can access the box. Besides, you have already known basic ritual, it won't take long."

"The plan can end earlier than we expected?" he sounded a bit of surprise.

"Yes," she paused, sensing a strange feeling floated up to the surface. "Once we're done, I will process the promise we have."

His eyes flicked in a second then became impassive. "When will we depart?"

"Tomorrow's evening," she replied.

"Separately?" he asked again.

"Yes, I will give you the locations before we depart," she explained. "About the spell, we will do it tomorrow's morning. It will be quick."

"Are you sure… you will be alright by yourself?" He suddenly sounded concerned, remembering the recent incident.

"I can take care of myself, Professor," she ensured him, but secretly felt happy that he was still worried about her.

He kept his eyes on her for a second then he stood up and excused himself. When he walked past her, she grabbed his wrist. Their backs faced each other.

"Are we still at it?" She asked.

He knew exactly what she was referring to, but he refused to acknowledge it. "I don't know what you are talking about, Miss Lefevre."

She turned her head to look at him, but his face hid behind his long hair. She could not read anything from his voice or his expression. She gripped his wrist one last time and released it.

"Good night, Professor," she spoke up while walking back to her desk, she still had her back to him.

"Good night, Miss Lefevre," he bid his farewell and left the room.

The silence fell down in the library once again as he exited the library. She turned to the door and had a glimpse of his robe. He was back to his usual clothes while in the mansion. She smiled softly at that image. She wondered that if after all of this would she have another chance to see it again, the billow of his robe.

* * *

 **A/N:** The more I write, the longer it gets to finish lol Anyway, here is the new chapter. Best regards to all my readers and reviewers. Love ^x^

 **Specially thanks to my lovely beta, Hero of Olympus in Disguise ^x^**


	10. The Vistor

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **Chapter 9: The Visitor**

The grandfather clock in the mansion began its haunted chiming again. Ethelinda found herself awake past midnight. For the past few days, a peaceful sleep became a luxury activity for her. She grew up with no harm ever coming close to her, even when her whole family got killed, she was comfortably hidden away in the attic. However, encountering those Death Eaters in Loseley Park changed her. Every time she closed her eyes, the hand that choked her throat and the icy-blue eyes penetrated to her mind reappeared as if they never left. She could feel her breath shortening and the air began to disappear. Her vision was getting blurry and soon turned dark. She coughed hard as if the event actually was happening. Her eyes flash opened, trying to regain her surroundings. She found herself in her study. The sweat was visible on her forehead as well as in her palm. She used her shirt's sleeve and wiped them away, re-positioning herself back against the chair, she had another nightmare.

She rested her head on the desk with her arms loosely on the side, letting her cheek touched the cold surface from the wood. The chill sensation made her brain numb and her body felt relaxed for a few seconds.

"Did you have a bad day, kiddo?" A warm, gentle, and deep voice spoke up, shaking up the quiet night.

Ethelinda lazily rose her head up as the voice reached her. She squeezed her eyes, trying to get a clear vision of whoever was talking in front of her. Finally, she recognized the middle-aged man who was standing at the other side of the desk. His face hid behind the shadow of a dark-gray trilby. The same color vest unbuttoned mixed with a light blue shirt. One hand put inside the pocket of the nearly black trouser while the other carried a old brown suitcase. He set the suitcase on the floor and took the trilby off, revealing a very masculine face, with thick eyebrows, hazel eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips which sneered at the person who was looking at him.

"You just made it the worst day in my life, Jonathan," Ethelinda rolled her eyes as she identified the man, Jonathan Reid. "What are you doing here? I thought this mansion was unplottable. How could you enter it?"

"It's impolite to question your guest while he's standing, kiddo," Jonathan grinned.

"Just take the damn chair, old-man," she snapped, losing her patience with him. "And stop smiling," she demanded.

"Oh dear, who has made my little girl become so snappy?" he continued his adore voice as he took the chair close to the desk. "Ah, I sense a male presence in the house, perhaps he's the reason. When did you get married, kiddo?"

"Male presence? You mean Cadfael?" She sneered, trying to avoid the subject but did not hide her smirk at the words. " _Male presence?" Really, he sounds like I own something other than the furniture._

"I don't consist Cadfael as a male, if you know what I mean," he chuckled at the idea that she was presenting, noticing that she did not want to press further in the matter.

"Seriously Jonathan, what're you doing here?" She shook her head, steering the conversation back to where it was. _Cadfael will not be pleased with that comment_.

"Actually, two things set off the alarm in my office," he stated as he waved his wand and a bottle of firewhiskey and two glasses landed on the desk. "First one is the contracts of Dave, Donovan, and Thanos. Second thing is your mother's room. And about the unplottable thing, I built this damn house, kiddo. I can make an exception for myself." He poured the firewhiskey for both of them and gave her one.

"Alarm? Why?" She sounded surprise, frowning as the man gave her a glass of firewhiskey. "I thought one of the requirements to work for our family that you can't make any exception." She accepted the glass from his hand, taking a moment to inhale the fragment of the drink.

"I am this family's lawyer. Anything happens in the house that may affect the family's benefits will need my consult," he replied. "Well, actually I have your mother's approval to enter the house without you."

"Hmm, well, I will discuss with you about that approval later," she took a sip of the firewhiskey, feeling her body responded tingling at the taste. "Damn, this thing never gets any better." She complained, but did not put it down. "Okay, so about the contracts, do I need to explain it to you?"

"If you want to, but it is not necessary," he shook his head, leaning against his chair and getting comfortable.

"Then it comes to my mother's room," she finally put the glass down, steadied her eyes at him. "Why is it vacant?"

"You never fail to amaze me in asking questions, kiddo," he chuckled at the way she presented it. "It was your mother's request."

"And do you know why she made such a request?" She arched a brow, sensing something more in the story.

"Do you want a short version or a long one?" He rose the glass to her as he waited for some kind of cheers.

"It's not like I can go back to sleep anyway, so we have plenty of time, old man," she picked up the glass and met his own. "Now let's listen to the tale of Freya Lefevre."

"As the head of the house, you have the power to foresee some of the important events. Two days before the massacre, your mother contacted me," he spoke softly as his eyes drifted off to some old memories. "Cadfael was there with her while she arranged some of her last works. One of them was for me to take care of you as long as possible, before you can take on the role of the house's head. The second thing was to build a new mansion and make her room movable." He paused, staring at the empty glass, his eyes became dull as if his soul was no longer there. Then he blinked and the lifeless sigh in his eyes disappeared. He grabbed the bottle and poured another glass of firewhiskey, but did not touch it.

"Your mother was a great witch with many ambitions. She wanted to make the Lefevre regain its fame again. People used to fear your family for generations. The power hides within each of your family's members possess can either produce greatness or destruction. And your mother was… destruction." He let out a deep breath, trailing off his eyes to the ring on his left hand. "There were many theories in how Voldemort and his Death Eaters could enter the Lefevre's mansion without dropping the ward. No-one has the power to drop that ward, my dear child, even Albus Dumbledore would have a difficult time to lift it. And yet, Voldemort has freely attacked the place as if he owned it. Your mother was… the one who dropped the ward for… him…"

A long pause emerged as he finally took a good look at the young woman in front of him. She was quiet, absorbing the tale as he was pouring to her. Her face remained impassive, but he could see a flash of anger rise in her beautiful eyes. But _not yet_ , the young woman stayed still and did not make a sound, waiting for the tale to continue.

"To make a difference, a sacrifice is needed," he took another long sip of the firewhiskey. "She knew that you have the power to make a difference, and she made the first move for you. This was also explained why she hid you away in that attic since your birth. No-one knows about you. To the family, she lost her child during labor. To the world, she never had gotten pregnant in the first place. That room, her room, holds a mystery of its own and it will reveal its power once you unlock the locks. Meanwhile, it will remain vacant."

That long version took them nearly two hours to finish. In the end, Ethelinda just stared at her glass of firewhiskey, which emptied an hour ago.

"That. Crazy. Woman." She grind hard, almost hurting her teeth.

"Don't be angry at her, kiddo," he reached out and held her hand, which began to shake. "She always has her reasons."

"Has? Did you just use present tense on her?" She snatched her hand back, furiously looking at him. All those feelings that she had build inside for years finally burst out, creating one of her massive uncontrolled magics that knocked down the bookshelves to the floor as well as multiple broken vases.

The loud noise from the study echoed through the house, waking up both Severus and Cadfael. Meanwhile, Ethelinda quickly warded the door, preventing anyone to enter. She also cast a spell and bounded Jonathan to the chair. _That woman can't be alive._ She walked around the desk, her bare feet touched the felt which usually brought her a bit of joy, but today it just increased the anger in her.

"Tell me, Mister Reid! Is Madam Freya Lefevre alive?" She rarely called people formally, especially those close to her, however, when she got annoyed of the situation, she made the conversation sound dramatically painful.

"Does it matter to know whether she's dead or alive?" Jonathan asked her back.

"Yes, it does," she replied, pressing her wand to his throat. "Because if she is still alive, I don't give a damn about searching this stupid box or the fucking title as the head of house. I don't even care about rebuilding the family's legacy. I don't want any of these. She has been ruining my life the moment I breath the first air of this world. I want to be… free from her. That's all I ever wanted…" Her voice broke down in the end. Tears unknowingly escaped her eyes, running down on her cheek.

Outside of the study, Cadfael and Severus found each other as they rushed to the place after hearing that loud sound.

Severus took a quick glance at his butler and murmured a reverse spell. The ward lifted and the door slowly opened. They stormed in and found a middle-aged man bounded to the chair while Ethelinda threatened his life with her wand.

For a moment, Severus was not sure if the man bounded to the chair was in the danger or Ethelinda with her wand pointed to his throat.

"Miss Lefevre!" He called, hoping that she was still conscious.

Ethelinda did not react to Severus's call. She stood there, unmoved, her head was down almost touching the man's shoulder.

"You know what, kiddo?" Jonathan finally spoke. "Whether you like it or not, it's your destiny. Your mother lost her right the moment she let those Death Eaters enter the mansion. That night, she did not only kill her family but she killed herself as well. The woman you will see now is not the same one of twenty years ago." He paused and then exhaled heavily as he concluded, "Her ambitions finally ate up her last sense of sanity."

Severus watched the strange exchange between the man and Ethelinda. He walked close to them and waved his wand, unbounding the man. Severus gently held Ethelinda's hand as he took her wand out and pulled her into his arms.

"Who're you?" Severus arched an eyebrow at the man, questioning his identity.

"Jonathan Reid, an old friend of the family," Jonathan introduced as he put his trilby back on and he did not forget to take a quick look at the one who held Ethelinda tightly then.

"Ethelinda mentioned you before," Severus said, recognizing the name from Ethelinda's story. "I don't know what is happening but I think you should leave now."

Jonathan nodded as he picked up his suitcase. His eyes dashed momentarily to Cadfael and then walked out of the study without saying a goodbye.

Meanwhile, Ethelinda was still resting her head against Severus's chest. She had lost her focus the moment Jonathan unofficially confirmed her mother's life. She clenched on his shirt, breathing the familiar sense of the sandalwood and the parchment. Being with him always made her mind feel at ease. It was like she could bet her life to his care and knew for sure that he would never fail her.

"Are you alright?" Severus could not tell how long they stood like that, but he finally asked when he felt her tense body become more relax.

He waited for her answer, but she did not seem in the mood to have a conversation. And when she decided to answer, it was not the one he expected to hear.

"Can you stay with me tonight?" She whispered.

He was quiet and she could feel his body stiffen to her request. She sighed softly. Tears had dried long before he held her and she could not bear to cry again. She just wanted to have someone tonight. For the first time in her life, she feared of being alone. She pushed him away gently, lifting her head up and looking at him. Before she could manage to read his expression, he swiftly carried her up and left the room.

And Cadfael heard a faint voice as they passed by him, "Thank you, Severus."

* * *

 **A/N:** I am deeply sorry to everyone for taking too long. This chapter was rather difficult to write, especially a few odd ideas kept popping in my head. I'm writing the next chapter now, hoping it will stay on track. Again, thank you all readers and reviewers. Enjoy and have fun. Love ^x^

 **Specially thanks to my beloved beta Hero of Olympus in Disguise**


	11. The Office

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Office**

Coming back to the office, Jonathan found himself staring at a man leaning against his office's door at three in the morning. He frowned, questioning the man's motive, but he still opened the door and let the man step in. This was not the first time his office had guests this late, yet he could not hide his surprise to see the man.

"What are you doing here, Novas?" Jonathan set his briefcase on the desk, asking the man with an exhausted voice. He did not have the energy to dance around as usual.

"Did you just visit Ethel?" Novas asked as he walked pass him, settling down in one of the armchairs. He observed Jonathan, waiting for an answer that he already had.

"I don't need to answer you," Jonathan replied, dismissing the conversation's direction. They had been friends for far too long. He knew Novas was trying to pursue something out of him again.

"So, you did," Novas figured out, ignoring the fact that Jonathan did not want to continue, his questions kept going. "Were you aware of her current activities?"

"If you want information, I believe you came to the wrong person," Jonathan said, grabbing a bottle of an old vodka that he had in the desk's cabinet and pouring himself a glass. He glanced at Novas for a second before taking a sip of the liquid and closing his eyes as he tried to rest for a few minutes. He did not bother to invite his guest for a drink. He was too tired for a common polite gesture.

"Jonathan," Novas called and his tone became more serious. "This is a dangerous job that Voldemort has left behind. The moment I knew Lucius is followed up with it, I agreed to help him regardless of our bitter relationship. However, things did not go well the past few days. Those Death Eaters attacked her and I believe she's still recovering. If you truly care for her, please I need your aid in this. You're the last one she may listen to."

"Ethel… she found out about her mother," Jonathan drank the glass rapidly, almost choking himself as his voice broke in, addressing the problem. "I don't think I am of much use now. Besides, she follows the family's tradition, she will be fine."

"She gave her ring to another man? Who?" Novas sounded surprised as he almost jumped out of his chair and grabbed Jonathan's collar. Luckily, the man still had enough conscious to restrain himself from doing it.

Jonathan remained quiet as he walked to one of the cabinets. He pulled one drawer and searched for one particular paper. Then he found it, an old newspaper, and put it on the desk, pointing to the headline, "The New Headmaster of Hogwarts."

Novas did not need to read the article because seeing Severus Snape's photo explained more than he wished for. "She chose Snape," he whispered and the surprise he had earlier died out. "That's unexpected."

"You don't sound surprised," Jonathan curiously asked, noticing the change in Novas's voice.

"I know she partnered up with him but… this is not what I had in mind," Novas pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ease the headache that suddenly spread out.

"Ah!" Jonathan exclaimed oddly. "So, what exactly do you want to do with her once you capture her?"

"Lucius has not discussed fully of his intentions," Novas leaned against the back of the armchair, resting his body as he continued. "However, he mentions something about a book and a spell of reviving the dead."

"He basically told you the whole plan," Jonathan chuckled, mocking Novas. "And you said he did not share much? Seriously, Novas, sometimes I wonder what is happening in your head."

"Stop insulting my intelligence, Jonathan," Novas shot him an angry glance but his voice remained neutral. "The reason I said that, was because he also joins hands with Shacklebolt. I knew both of them and one is almost personally. I notice several loopholes have risen since their collaboration. Just looking at Snape's case, if he is truly guilty, why do they have to save him and then put him to Azkaban? Besides, Lucius is seriously more focused on capturing Ethel than capturing Snape. They used to be friends, good ones too. And I know Lucius would turn a blind eye so Snape can disappear. He does not care about Snape. But then, why would he agree to help Shacklebolt? It's just too strange to ignore."

"Interesting," Jonathan finally settled down on his chair, amusing at the inside story of the commotion behind Severus Snape's crazy pursue. "Now you have my attention, Novas. Tell me the full story, then we will decide where we can go from there."

Novas did not take long to summarize the collaboration of Kingsley, Lucius, and him, and how their operation worked. In the end, Novas received a doubtful gaze from Jonathan.

"How can you prevent him from getting the book?" Jonathan asked, referring to Lucius's true intention.

"Both of us know that Ethel is the book," Novas slowly explained his plan. "When she uses the rings to activate the power of the book, _we_ can insert the portkey in the process and apparate her to an unknown timeline."

"That sounds like a great idea but it is too easy, Novas," Jonathan shook his head. "Did you ever wonder why Voldemort was able to track down Ethel under the alias Lala Bloodworth?"

Novas froze his gaze at Jonathan as he processed the information, then his face turned pale. "Oh dear Merlin, Freya?"

"Obviously," Jonathan sneered.

"Shite," Novas cursed, putting his palm on his face. "If her mother gets involved, the game is completely changed. She is a crazy bitch who will do anything to achieve her goal. She's fucking killed her entire family just so Ethel can obtain the book."

"Language Novas," Jonathan chuckled but his voice was darker. "I bet with you that between Malfoy and Shacklebolt, one of them is working for or under Freya. That is the only explanation I can think of regarding to your doubt in the relationship between those two."

"I know Freya was in the same year with Lucius and they were very close," Novas said. "Kingsley is another matter. I think I need some deep investigation into both of them."

"That will do for now," Jonathan looked at his watch as he spoke. "I think your time is up, Novas. The sun will come up in a few minutes. We will discuss this again when you gather enough evidence."

"Thank you for your encouragement, Jonathan," Novas smirked as he readied to leave the office. "By the way, how's Ethel?"

"She looks healthy," Jonathan replied gently.

"That's good," Novas nodded and he did not bother to hide the small smile appearing on his face. The news brought a little happiness to him. "Farewell then my friend."

"Farewell," Jonathan bid his goodbye as Novas left the office.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling extremely tired. His body stumbled back to the chair and he breathed out deeply. He knew sooner or later, Freya would reveal herself completely. She never left anything undone, especially something she was longing for. He poured another glass of vodka, trying to drown himself in the alcohol. _Just one day, one day without dealing with her again._ He murmured tiredly, his eyes still shut. Unfortunately, it was a wishful idea as a knock shortly followed. He groaned annoyingly when he noticed the time, it was just past two. _Who want to visit a lawyer at four in the morning?_ And again, his office's hours were never a normal one.

"Come in," Jonathan called as he straightened his body's posture, waiting for the new customer.

The doorknob turned slightly then it stopped. He arched a brow at the motion and kept a close gaze. Something flicked in his mind, warning him of something unpleasant was coming. He quietly drew his wand out from under the shirt's sleeve, readying to cast any spell. The knob turned again and this time it completed a full circle. He watched the door pushed slowly and waited to see the face of his customer.

"Stupefy!"

Without any warning, a flash of light flew directly to where Jonathan was sitting. Gladly, he was quick enough to dodge the spell, jumping off to the floor and hid behind his desk.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jonathan hissed but he did not fail to notice how shaky his hands were..

"Don't get nosy in Mistress's business," a deep, almost in the bass mode, voice replied.

Jonathan's eyes got darker at the mention of the title, Mistress. He knew that Ethelinda was the current head of Lefevre's house and the legal Mistress. He was completely sure that she was pissed off at him and could possibly kill him if he provoked her again. However, hiring people to kill him, that would not be her motto. Therefore, the only one left who used to have that title was… Freya. His eyes just went cold at the thought. Yet, the sound of the man's shoes echoed at each time they hit the floor, distracting him from the string of questions. He swallowed hard as the sound brought him back to reality: there was more than one man in the office. His thumb pressed firmly on the wand, he might not get out of here alive.

"What do you guys want?" He asked without a tremble in his voice, hiding the fear that kept rising inside.

"This is your only warning," another voice replied, adding a bit more of threat in the words. "Next time, you will die before you hit the floor."

With that, their shadows disappeared, leaving the office's door creaking back and forth. Jonathan's back hit the desk's cupboards, letting out a long breath that he did not realize he was holding. The game just made a very nasty turn. He bit his nail while trying to connect all the dots. Something flashed in his eyes before he cast, "Expecto Patronum." A silver light slowly spread from the tip of his wand and quickly formed into a squirrel, "Old man, I take your offer. She is definitely needing our aid." His patronus ran through the window and disappeared into the early morning.

Seeing the patronus carry the message to its destination, Jonathan returned to his current state. His hand grabbed the edge of the desk, using it as a support and stood up. His legs almost lost their balance but the desk helped him to stay straight. He sighed, he was not born to be a fighter and those men basically drained him out completely. It took him a length of twenty minutes to finally get over the attack and begin to go through all of his files. He needed a plan, no, _they_ needed a plan.

The patronus soon arrived to an old castle located in the far north of England. It leaped through the old wall and found itself inside a room. It was pitch black with the only source of light from the fireplace. The light was able to spread far enough to reveal an old couch and a man, who was watching the fire that was flickering. The windows were all covered in a heavy and thick curtain, blocking any sunlight that tried to reach inside the room. It was a perfect environment for a vampire.

Novas, the owner of the old castle, was surprised to see the squirrel approach him and replayed its owner's message. He nodded at the squirrel, acknowledging the information before it disappeared. His attention shifted back to the fire, he took a sip of a red-color liquid. His eyes were bored to the unchanged scene in front of him. Nothing seemed to change in his attitude. Nevertheless, inside his mind, he knew well enough that something had happened in Jonathan's office after his depart. Jonathan was a stubborn man and their relationship was not any better than with Lucius. Only in a crucial moment, _like this_ , he would willingly join with him. He put down the glass and headed to his desk. He had arranged some letters to a few old friends, searching for more information between Lucius and Kingsley. Then, he would need to draft a letter to Jonathan as well, arranging a meeting place so they could go into details of what exactly was happening, especially with the return of Freya.

Sometime later, the squirrel was back with a simple answer, 'Yes.'

* * *

 **A/N:** I think the more I write, the longer the wait between the chapters lol Besides, the usual complaining of writer's block, I am happy to share that the story gets more than 1000 views. Yes, it's not much, but enough to steam my power to keep writing. Also, a special thanks to FelixFelicisWriter for her supporting as my fastest reviewer. Love you and your wonderful review ^x^ Anyway, enjoy the story as always and look forward to more reviews lol

 **Specially thanks to my beloved beta Hero of Olympus in Disguise**


	12. The Story

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Story**

A strong wind flew in the room, blowing the window and the curtains backward and bringing along the cold sensation of the late Winter's season. The chilly morning awoke the man who was taking his uncomfortable sleep on a chair with his head tilted oddly to the side and arms crossed tightly in front of his chest. Severus tiredly opened his eyes and groaned something unintelligent, probably cursing the chilly wind. His eyes soon fell on the young woman who was sleeping soundly with her face facing him. _The nightmare finally bared her mind_ , he murmured to himself, remembering how she tossed and turned recklessly for the past hours. A moment later, another wind kicked in, making him chilly. He tiredly left the chair and headed to the window as the wind was getting stronger.

The window's lock clicked safely, blocking a bit of the morning cold. The man cast a warming charm on the young woman and himself, the room's temperature somehow reminded him of the dungeon. Severus sat back to his uncomfortable chair, staring at the young woman with an absent mind. It had been a while since he was in the same room with her. They used to share a room, fought over silly things, and laughed at misleading news about him. They used to have a strange relationship and... it was comfortable. Ethelinda shifted, letting her back rest on the mattress. His eyes were soft, focusing her chest's movement as she was breathing.

He leaned back into the chair, eyes staring at the ceiling. The scene from hours ago replayed in his mind. Something was off when he saw her. _Her magic, it's getting darker for a moment,_ he frowned as he remembered how the air in the room shifted heavily. It was like her anger had influenced her surroundings and changed it. It was a normal phenomenon when a magical being's emotion arose. However, her change made him worry. He brought his hand up and looked at the ring that she gave him. He felt its reaction to her emotion, even it happened quickly but he could feel the ring burn, almost like a warning to him about her. _I need to talk with her about this._

Lost in thought, he did not notice that she started to wake up. She opened her eyes slowly, still blurry from the crying from the previous night. Once her vision got clearer, she recognized where she was. She yawned tiredly and pulled the cover up, trying to go back to sleep. Her small noise brought the man's attention back to the bed, a small smile appeared on his face as he saw the young woman did not notice his presence. He cleared his throat and she turned around, eyes opened wide as she saw who was making the sound.

"Sev-Professor?" Ethelinda sounded surprised, stumbling in addressing him. "What are you doing here?"

Severus kept his face blank, but inwardly, an unidentified sensation creeped out as he heard the way she addressed him. _Professor_ , the word played in his head like a non-stop movie, echoing strangely. He did not like it. As much as he wanted her to call his name again, he refused to show it. He understood enough of where their relationship currently stood, they… no, he was the reason that they stopped the familiar interaction between them. There was no need in lingering on an idea that was no longer there. He dismissed that feeling quickly as it appeared, turning his attention back to her question.

"I carried you back here after your meeting with a man named Jonathan," he spoke up with a voice of cold and distance.

Ethelinda frowned, absorbing his words, then the memory from her meeting with Jonathan returned slowly. Severus could see her body shaking slightly and her gaze became unfocused to the memory. Something was making her very uncomfortable, but he could not bring himself to comfort her. She continued lost in her memory until something tapping on the window's glass, brought both of their attention away from their thinking.

Severus walked to the window and opened the curtain. The sound was from the raven that always delivered information to Ethelinda. He turned around and let her have a clear view of the bird. He saw her face turned from surprise to angry then ended with a blank expression.

"Don't let it in," she shook her head and told him. Her voice sounded unusually calm.

Severus nodded as he cast the Confundus Charm to the raven, letting it fly back to where it came from. "What exactly happened in that meeting, Miss Lefevre?" he asked, finally displaying his worry in the way he presented his question.

"It's a long story, Professor," she replied, but hesitated in giving too much details. "Let's have breakfast first then we will talk about it."

His gaze moved from her to an old clock on the wall and realized that it was past nine. They were supposed to have a quick practice this morning, but with the current development, he did not think their plan would be the same. He took out a small vial and put it on the drawer beside her. "It's Calming Draught," he explained. "I am not sure what happened but I think you should take one before we discuss the matter."

She nodded as he bid his goodbye and left the room. "It'll be a long day," she whispered to herself as she watched his shadow disappeared behind her closed door. Letting a small sigh, she headed to the bathroom. She stopped in front of the mirror and saw her reflection. Her eyes were swollen badly from all the crying. To be truthful, she did not remember of crying to the point that she passed out and slept. _And Severus…_ she stared at her own reflection as she remembered calling his given name. He did not fix her and when he carried her back, she was very happy. Unfortunately, he seemed to go back to his normal self this morning. She shook her head, pushing those thoughts back to where they belonged. She unbraided her hairs, letting it loosely fall to her back. After undressing, she stepped inside the tub and turned the water on. Sitting tiredly down, she closed her eyes for a moment of rest before she needed to deal with him again. Another story that she needed to tell him. _Probably another disappointment..._

By nine-thirty, she descended down from the stairs, walking to the end of the hallway, where the dining room was located.

Much different to her room or other rooms in the mansion, the dining room was filled with morning sunlight that reached through those large windows as all curtains pulled to one side. In the middle of the room was a long table with more than ten chairs, seating at each side of the table. It was very modern compared to the Victoria design in most parts of the mansion. With the wooden floors, the creamy wall stood out nice and elegant. There were a few paintings on the wall with various styles and themes. She glanced at them but did not linger, she was not good when it came to enjoy the beauty of the art. Her eyes moved back to the head of house's chair, which located close to where she was standing, facing to a large door headed to the garden. To her own surprise, Severus was already there, sitting comfortably to one of the chairs close to her right side. The man wore a white shirt with a black trouser. His hair tied back neatly to a pony tail with a few strings fell loosely along his jaw. His appearance improved much more than a few days ago, which caused her to subconsciously admire the sight.

"Good morning, Professor," Ethelinda greeted Severus as she settled down to her chair. The tension for the past days somehow disappeared in that room. She could not help but smile to the familiar atmosphere that they used to have.

"Mornin' Miss Lefevre," Severus greeted back but his eyes never left the book he was reading.

"What are you reading there?" she started a conversation while Cadfael began to serve breakfast.

"Nothing in particular interest to you," he answered with his cut-and-dry voice, breaking the nice moment between them.

"Your appearance fails to match your mood again, Professor," she, however, did not take his words to heart, she only chuckled at his suddenly sour tongue. Being his partner for a while, she learned that the man's mood could change unexpectedly. It would be easier for her to just accept his moodswing, rather than dwell on it.

"Uhm hmm," he was completely absorbed into the book and barely noticed of her comment.

She shook her head, smiling softly as she tilted her head and watched him. While they were on the run, they did not have the luxury to stop and relax like now. And of course, seeing him enjoying a good book was a rare sight. She wondered if that how he usually spent his time with a good book and a cup of hot tea. The tension on his face that was usually present was not there at this moment. However, her observation cut short as her butler brought out a full English breakfast with fried egg, sausage, bacon, mushrooms, baked beans, toast, and a few slices of tomatoes. She could not help but to inhale the divine smell and, to her own horror, her stomach responded to the scent by its _beautiful_ growling. _Oh Gods! Why?_ she groaned in her mind as a tint of pink slowly creeped on her cheeks. Too focused to her meal, but mostly tried to avoid any awkward interaction, she failed to notice to her right side, where the man was smirking, clearly enjoying the small scene that she displayed. Her stomach always made noise whenever she smelled something delicious and he never failed to notice the short moment of her burning cheeks.

By ten o'clock, they already sat comfortably in their seat, enjoying their cup of tea.

"I don't think we will need to process the mission separately as planned," Ethelinda spoke up, her attention landed somewhere between the teapot and the table, avoiding his gazing.

"I expected that much," Severus agreed, leaning comfortable to his armchair. "Do you want to talk about it?"

His question startled her. Still avoiding his eyes, she took a sip of tea while forming a reasonable explanation to him. It felt like a deja-vu when she began another confession. _Bloody confession!_

"I was surprised to see him," she spoke, "As you have known, we do not get along well and I try to not get involved with him. Unfortunately, I did not know much about my family's procedure when it comes to servants' contracts and an alarm in my mother's room. So, they were the reason he visited me." She paused, holding the teacup with both of her hands and looking like she was lost in her memory. "Then in a slip of his tongue, I found out that my mother is still alive..." Something became dull in her eyes, much different to her reaction from the previous night. The anger then replaced with a lifeless look, but it did not last long when she looked back to him and asked him gently, "Did you ever wonder why you found me in that attic years ago?"

"You're the last blood of the family," Severus replied. "The obvious conclusion that someone hid you away from the attack of the Dark Lord."

"Unfortunately, she's not that noble," Ethelinda sneered at the idea of her mother trying to protect her. "She hid me away because she needs my power to help her. Something that both my great-grandmother and Jonathan refer as rare. Jonathan still believes that my mother wants to rebuild the family's reputation by using my power. And again, according to my great-grandmother, she's just a selfish maniac who wants power more than anything. In her eyes, she never considered me as a daughter, only an important piece in her plan. She put me away as soon as I was born and left me there with Cadfael. My first four years in the mansion was living in that dark and cold attic with a butler. Then the other fourteen years were hidden away under different names. I never truly have lived for me, even now..." Ethelinda's gaze stopped at the family's ring on her hand, then looking at Severus. Something clicked in her mind as the story went. Her voice was barely audible, she whispered, "Why did you not participate in the massacre of that night?"

"The Dark Lord assigned a different task for me," he replied without hesitation. He had nothing to hide from her because she already knew about Voldemort's plan in attacking her family and her.

She tilted her head at him then stood up and headed to the desk. _A different task_ , those words chanted quietly in her head as she searched for something in one of the desk's drawers. Finally, she found the thing she was looking for, a piece of parchment with a strange drawing on it. "Did your task relate to this?" she asked, showing him the parchment in her hand.

The strange drawing was not unfamiliar to Severus because he had seen it before, _The Book Without Words._ "Yes," he answered as his eyes never left the drawing. "Are we also searching for it?"

"Not searching, we're unlocking spells," she clarified his question.

"The book is under a protection?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "As much as I hate to do this, it was something my great-grandmother asked me to do. Besides, if I have the hold on the book before my mother, her plan will not work."

"What exactly is her plan?" he got curious as she mentioned her mother's plan.

"Honestly, I have no idea of what she is planning," she sighed. "However, my great-grandmother foresaw my mother's ill intention, she put me up to the job to prevent it."

"Your great-grandmother is a Seer?" he continued his questions when the mention of her great-grandmother continued to pop-up.

"Yes," she replied. "Unfortunately, her prediction ended with my encounter with a _dark and mysterious man_." Her words ended with a grin on her face. Her great-grandmother had written down every event she could foresee in the journal and hoped it would aid her little great-granddaughter. One of them did mention about _him_ , which she failed to make any connection until much later.

Severus stopped his gaze at her, frowning at what she just shared. "A dark and mysterious man? Don't tell me she described me?" he did not like the idea of someone planning his life again.

Ethelinda nodded, "Her exact words are, ' _In a mid of a chase, a dark and mysterious man would join hand with you.'_ And that's the last sentence in her journal. Anything after that will be up to us to figure out."

He watched her while his mind kept lingering on the idea that their encounter was not a coincident. Did she lie to him? No, he could detect a lie easily and he knew even though she kept secrets away from him, she could not lie. The possibility that she planned out a chase was highly unlikely. He shook that idiotic theory away as his thought continued on. She did ask for his protection in exchange for his freedom. And for the past months that they worked together, she did not show any ill attempt to him. _Except when she suddenly peaked in the bathroom while I was using it._ The odd memory suddenly straightened the man as he fixed his posture. He cleared his throat and said, "Now that we have clear view of who may be behind your attack, we can prepare better until the book's safety is in your hands. When will we part this evening?"

"Mostly around seven," she replied, arching a brow at him, not sure what he was planing.

"Good, now I need to verify your ability," he stood up, gesturing her to follow.

"My ability? Of what?" she confused, knitting her eyebrows together and watching him deeply.

"In fighting," he responded as he got up, readying to leave. "I want to see how well you are in a real fight because the last time I let you out of my sight, you ended up on the ground and bleeding heavily. I vowed to protect you and I will do all in my power to fulfill that agreement between us. However, I can't guarantee that we'll not separate during an attack. Being able to know where your level is will help us to adjust in our new situation better."

That… actually is a good idea," she agreed with him as she took her wand out and followed him.

* * *

 **A/N:** I'm back. Did anyone miss me? lol But don't worry, 'cause I am working on chapter 12 & 13 and some actions will finally appear in those two chapters. Read and review! Love you all :)

 **And of course, many thanks to my wonderful beta,** **Hero of Olympus in Disguise!**


	13. The Encounter

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Encounter**

Dueling is not fun. Period.

The air escaped her lungs faster than when it went in. Her mouth was dry, her head was spinning, and her back was soaked with sweat. Once or twice, her vision got blurry and she lost focus, yet, she still stood strong on the ground. Somewhere in the middle of the duel, she wished she had not agreed with his idea. She knew where her fighting skills were and they were not very useful.

In the past hour, he had thrown multiple spells at her. At first, she dueled with all she had and showed a decent amount of skills. However, not even fifteen minutes into the fight was it clear that he was the stronger one. He left her far behind both in stamina and reflexes. The man did live up to his reputation as someone passionately in love with the subject. Not to mention his experiences over the years, she stood no chance with the man.

Severus' brows knitted deeper as the duel continued on. Reasonable my arse! He cursed under his breath as he now clearly judged her skills. How could she describe her skills as reasonable? He had no idea. Merlin! He wished he could strangle whoever taught her for the past fourteen years… including him. Bugger! He murmured again, realizing that he was one of her D.A. professors, who completely failed to notice her fighting's state. But then again, at that time, he had other priorities to worry about than to notice a student failed in class.

"Flipendo!" he cast another spell.

Ethelinda's eyes were dull as she watched his spell fly to her. She did not make a move, or rather, her hand refused to react to the attack. She was beyond exhausted at this point. He did not use all of his power in the spell and it would only knock her backward. However, due to her beaten body, the spell tossed her across the ground, hitting her hard on the wall. She could feel her body bounce from the wall to the ground, landing like dead meat. Every single muscle in her body was screaming with exhaustion and ached. Her vision remained blurry until a dark figure was looming over her. Warm fingers touched her neck, checked her eyes, and finally voiced out something like "Are you alright?"

Still lying, she asked softly, barely audible, "Any broken bones?"

"No, a few bruises but not broken bones," he replied after checking her body for any injuries.

"Good," she said.

"Good?" he was surprised at her answer. "This is nowhere near good, Miss Lefevre. How did you survive out there with your current fighting state?" If her mind was clear at the moment, she probably could identify the worriness in his voice. However, the pain occupied her mind more than anything else, blocking all of her senses at the moment.

She hissed painfully as she pushed herself up. He reached out and put his arm around her back, supporting her stand. She barely stood straight, leaning completely into his body. Her voice was weak, but humorous, "Purely luck, sir… purely luck."

He stared down at her, as much as he wanted to bark at her with anger, the sound that came out from his throat was a chuckle. He shook his head, he could not help but to agree with her comment. She chose the right word to use in her situation. Without luck, she probably would have ended up dead years ago, before any of this could happen.

"How did you pass all of your defense classes?"

"In Ilvermorny, we are not heavily focused in D.A.," she explained. "It's an optional requirement and there are substitute classes that we can replace D.A. Those who are serious enough with the subject usually take the supplement classes in evening with the professor. He provides different methods in study, which are more intense than the morning class. I did fairly fine with the standard of the regular class. When I came to Hogwarts, only you and Professor Moody actually taught the class in a serious manner. Umbridge was, well, all theories. Also, Hufflepuff is not furious and Ravenclaw is reasonable. And for some reasons, you were more flexible with us than with Gryffindor and Slytherin. I think I passed the class with luck again, sir."

"Life cannot always depend on luck, Miss Lefevre," he said. "I don't know where your plan will head after our agreement ends, but with your current state, I fear you will not last long." He led her away from the ground and headed back to the mansion. "It's lunch time now and you need to rest. After one o'clock we will continue with this training."

Even though, his words were distant and his voice was unfriendly as usual, she could read between the lines that he was worried. He wanted to make sure that she would be fine, even when he was not there with her anymore. That was probably his best way to show his concern to someone. She held tight to his arm as she followed him back inside. A small smile spread on her face. Stubborn man.

True to his words, after lunch with a little bit of rest and a few vials of potions, they continued with training.

"To your left," Severus instructed, pointing out of where his spell would hit. "You need to be aware of your surrounding, Miss Lefevre. You cannot focus on one direction and ignore the other. And your posture has too many openings. Straighten your back. No, no, that's not right." He marched over to where Ethelinda was and fixed her back as well as her hand. "When you cast a spell, hold your wand firmly and point it to the right direction. Even if it does not work as you plan, you can still use is as a diversion and throw a different one. Always be aware of what is happening around you and never let your opponent have an opportunity to fight back. Offensive and defensive spells work hand-in-hand."

As he was instructing her, his right hand was on her back, preventing it to lose its posture. His left hand was holding hers, keeping her wand pointing to the right direction. Neither of them realized how close they were, until he felt the heat from her back radiating to his palm. She wore a creamy shirt and black jeans. Her sweat made the shirt stick to the skin of her back, revealing her bra that matched the color of her skin. He froze the moment he registered their closeness. For a second, he let his wall drop as he took a deep breath, taking in her perfume, a faint smell of honeysuckle, through his nostril. He got used to her perfume without noticing it as it relaxed his mind over all the stresses that he had. His eyes softened and his head was closing its distance to her neck. Just a taste of her skin. He could feel his body drawing to her as his lips almost touched her bare neck. But then, he heard her voice, calling him Professor and asking him something that he failed to recognize. The word Professor was like a wakeup call for the man, making him quickly step back and release his hold on her. He quickly turned away, hiding the emotions playing on his face.

"I think we had enough for today," he said dryly, "You need to rest before the evening's job." Then, he walked back to the mansion without further explanation, leaving behind a very confused young woman.

Severus's absurd depart left a questionable feeling for Ethelinda. She could not process his unexpected change of behaviour. Did I do something wrong? She frowned, letting the question float around in her mind. Yet, as much as she wanted to dwell on the problem, she gladly accepted his dismissal. Even with all those potions, her physical capacity just could not improve overnight, she was exhausted. Sighing, she followed shortly with one goal in her mind at the moment, sleeping off her tiredness.

oOo

Sitting in front of the fireplace, two men were in a deep discussion. Jonathan had a few parchments spread on the coffee-table. Novas's idea of portkey Ethelinda to an unknown location sounded very tempting, but it had one tiny problem. Once she left the mansion, they would not able to track her down and neither of them thought she would share her plan to them. Without knowing her last location, or at least put on a tracking charm on her, their plan of portkey her would not succeed. They had discussed every possibility they could have thought of. Their conversation got off track when something knocked on the window.

"What do you have there?" Jonathan moved his eyes away from the parchments to the man who was, now, reading something from the delivery owl.

"My association's investigation," Novas replied as he fed the owl a piece of biscuit before letting it fly away.

"And?" Jonathan approached Novas from behind, staring down over his shoulder to the letter he was reading.

"They failed to investigate Lucius, but they had something on Kingsley," Novas stated as he distanced himself from Jonathan. You're standing too close. Too. Close.

Jonathan's eyes stopped focusing at the letter the moment he noticed Novas moved away. Interesting. He chuckled when the man tried his best to not stand anywhere close to him. It had been a while for Jonathan to tease the old man, even though, they had their differences, he still had a high interest in Novas. Yet, he did not pursue it due to all the events that has happened.

"Shacklebolt? Why should a man who serves the Light have anything to do with her?" The information was interesting to Jonathan but teasing Novas seemed to give another level of enjoyment at the moment as he moved closer to the man.

"Damn it, Jonathan!" Novas finally snapped. "If you get any closer, I swear to Merlin that you will die a very painful death!"

"Are you sure?" Jonathan ignored the warning as he tilted his head close to Novas' ear and whispered.

Novas did not hesitate to use the parchment in his hands to hit Jonathan mercilessly. However, due to the differences in height, Jonathan's chest was the only victim and Novas' action made him chuckle louder. Regardless of the small enjoyment, Jonathan's hands grabbed Novas' wrists, preventing him from continuing the assault. He walked back to the couch and sat down, his voice went back to the professional tone, "Let see what your association has found in our beloved Minister."

After an hour of going over the information that Novas' associations provided, they found out that prior to the fall of Voldemort, Kingsley took a secret trip to the an unknown location for a month. The trip was covered as a regular auror's mission but the folder of the mission contained nothing. By the time he returned from the trip, he brought a guest to his home. However, it was only a rumor because even as nosy as Rita Skeeter, she failed to obtain any juicy information.

"It's not much for us to conclude whether she is with him," Jonathan shook his head as he put the parchments containing the information down on the coffee-table. "She may be with Malfoy of all people."

"I trust Lucius's words when I questioned his interest in pursuit Ethel. I knew him since he was a kid, Jonathan, and no matter what he was drowning himself into, he loves his family more than anything. The war did not only cost his status, his pride, but it also costed his family," Novas defended Lucius as his voice softened. "You know what the book can do and he just wants his family back."

Jonathan was quiet. He knew Lucius was a close friend of Freya and there was an expectation that she would marry the man. However, in the end, Lucius got married to Narcissa Black, and Freya ended up with a baby and no husband. He sighed, leaning back into the couch. His headache was back again. This new information was killing his brain.

"You know more about Lucius's plan than what you are sharing to me right?" Jonathan caught the hesitation in Novas' eyes as he proposed his question. He remembered from the previous conversation, where Novas stated that Lucius wanted to revive the dead. And from what he heard, both his wife and son got killed during the war.

Novas shook his head, indicating that he would not say anything more. Jonathan narrowed his gaze at Novas, almost trying to enter the man's mind to dig for more information. Unfortunately, he knew nothing about Legilimency. Sighing inwardly, Jonathan changed the subject back to their plan, "Talking back to our plan, we cannot go any further without knowing when Ethel will find the box and activate it. I know her grandmother gave her a list of locations she needs to access in order to get the box, but exactly where and when, that's a problem." 

"From her servants, I know there may be four or five locations left in that list," Novas suddenly trailed off, his eyes drifted to the fireplace with his index finger tracing his lips. "And I may have a way to locate her."

"You… What?" Jonathan asked surprised, arching an eyebrow at Novas.

"I know a way to locate her," Novas repeated, keeping a steady look at Jonathan, in case, the man attacked him.

"And you failed to mention it to me when we basically plucked out our hairs?" Jonathan was frustrated.

"I didn't mention it mainly because I still wasn't sure if Ethel… is my daughter," Novas refused to make eye-contact with Jonathan when he spilled his doubt.

Jonathan arched one of his eyebrows, staring at Novas' face while he processed the information. He knew Freya was impregnated by one of her friends. He had suspected Malfoy but when he first saw Ethelinda, she did not resemble anything from the Malfoy's line. Now that Novas raised his suspicion, Jonathan began to compare the similar features between the two. They were indeed related.

"And if she is your daughter, then how will we track her down?" asked Jonathan.

"There is an old ritual from our bloodline which uses a family member's blood to trace after another member," Novas explained but did not hide his surprise when Jonathan did not press for more information of his relationship with Freya. "However, in order to do to that, I need her blood to clarify our relationship. You know how messy Freya's relationship with all her male friends is, I don't even doubt that she might have slept with Voldemort if the opportunity arose."

"Cadfael has a box that contains her blood, we can go to the mansion and ask for it," Jonathan seemed to agree with Novas' suggestion. "However, we can only enter the place after she leaves, otherwise, we need to face a very pissed-off Mistress and her bodyguard, who I am not very fond of."

"That won't be a problem," Novas nodded at Jonathan.

"Now that that problem is solved, we still have the portkey to work on," Jonathan waved his wand and the parchments piled up into a stack. "Where exactly do you plan to portkey her?"

"China."

oOo

A young woman stood quietly in Kingsley's office, looking out of the window but not particularly focusing on anything that happened. A deep frown appeared on the woman's face as she sensed something in the air.

"What's wrong?" Kingsley approached the woman from behind, putting his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him.

"She is changing," the woman stated, resting her head against his chest.

"Is that good?" he asked softly.

"It would depend on who makes the change," she stated. "I hope her change will benefit our plan."

"Don't worry, my Lady. Everything will go across as planned," he ensured her as he placed a chaste kiss to her cheek before stepping away from the room.

The young woman continued watching the scene. Something flicked in her eyes, making her pupils suddenly become bigger. She was taking pleasure in her change of magic. Yes, her change definitely benefits her.

oOo

The evening came sooner than Ethelinda wanted. By six-thirty, Severus was waiting for her at the gate. She was saying goodbye to Cadfael. Once they stepped out of the mansion's ward, they would face what they left off days ago. She was not sure if this would be the last time she saw her butler.

"Be careful, Mistress," Cadfael whispered, stroking her hair like the old times.

"I will," she nodded before she hugged the man as if it was the last time. "Take care of the mansion and those who refuse to greet me."

"Oh, believe me, Mistress, you don't want to see them," he chuckled, remembering the mansion's ghosts had asked to meet the young Mistress, but he did not approve and had caused a massive amount of protests from them.

She smiled, noticing a small hint of humour in his words. She would miss him a lot. Taking a step back, letting the men have their talk as she watched their exchange of conversation. Severus did not say much, only nod to whatever Cadfael was saying. Finally, at six-forty-five, the pair walked passed the gate and disapparated to the next location on the list, Yorkgate Railway Station.

The railway station was quiet. Not a single soul or sound was lurking, which was very strange. Severus frowned as he observed the location. He even cast a few spells to detect if anything else was there, but he found nothing. His frown kept getting deeper as his uneasy feeling did not subside.

"Let's finish the ritual quickly," he grabbed Ethelinda's arm and whispered to her, urging the event to progress quicker.

Ethelinda nodded at his words without asking any further, because she shared the same feeling as him. Something's not right. She waved her wand and murmured a protection spell as a faint of yellow light shot out from her wand and soon filled the inside of the station. She took a deep breath as the protection shield finally covered everything within the place. For some reason, her heart beat was faster than usual. She grabbed his hand and squeezed lightly before heading down to the tracks.

Severus kept a close eye on Ethelinda as she began the ritual. He noted that the shield she put up included an anti-apparition spell as well. So she's aware of the abnormal atmosphere. Nevertheless, he waved his wand and added another layer of protection to hers. And if, for some reasons, her shield failed, they still had his underneath to withstand. His eyes moved back to her, who was now completely lost in her own world. Yet, he found himself staring at a beautiful young woman, whose magic had magnified to a different level and it affected both her physically and magically, which should not be happening.

Severus knew he could not interfere the ritual once it began, but the change in her magic was getting out of control. He could see that it tried to escape her body and shoot out uncontrollably into the air. Unfortunately, before he could do anything, the magic protecting the station dropped without warning. He could only react as he saw her flinch away from the lock and fall down to the ground. Something definitely is wrong here. He rushed to her side as she was completely unconscious.

"Get the girl and kill the man!"

A woman's voice suddenly echoed inside Severus's head, making the man turn his head around dramatically. His eyes dashed from corner to corner, up and down, left to right, but he saw nothing, not even a single string of magic. The station was completely desert.

"Professor…" Ethelinda finally opened her eyes. "I got it."

Severus saw the small box in her hand and looked back at her, he whispered, "How?"

"My, my! What do we have here?"

Ethelinda held her breath the moment she heard the voice. How on earth did that woman know about this place? Her mind was racing with multiple questions and theories. She did expect to face another attack from the Death Eaters, but not with that woman and certainly not at this place. It's supposed to be a secret list. She quickly hid the box inside her coat's pocket as she leaned on Severus, trying to stand up.

Twenty years, yes, it had been that long since the last time Ethelinda saw her mother. A youthful looking woman with her blond hair tucked neatly into a bun. Her beautiful blue eyes was watching her and Severus carefully, they were cold and somewhat deadly. Her full lips had spread into a fake smile that she had seen and had not forgotten over the years. One of the many benefits of being an angel was the life of Immortality, something that countless people had pursuit for life. Her mother was still the same both physically and mentally, or perhaps a hint of madness was echoing in her laughter. But she never knew, her mother was never truly smiling or laughing from her heart. Everything she did was planned, even her emotions.

"Kill him and get the girl!"

Chaos erupted once Freya shouted the order. Her men marched up and spells quickly escaped their wand. They soon formed into a circle, locking Severus and Ethelinda within. They had their back against each other, fighting against any spell that came to them. Severus scanned the surrounding and tried to think of a way to escape.

"What are we doing now?" Ethelinda's voice reached out in Severus's mind. His eyes flicked with surprise, but his face remained expressionless. Turned out, they could communicate through their mind, which was very useful at the moment. Yet, it did not explain of why he heard Freya's voice before they appeared to the location.

"They're out numbering us. If we fight to break out, it will be impossible," he responded while casting different spells to Death Eaters, knocking two of them down on the ground. "Do you think the mansion's ward will prevent them from getting in?"

"It's strong but with Freya here, I'm not sure anymore," Ethelinda answered. "But we can try, and I also need to access her room."

Severus did not give out any gesture before grabbing her arm and disapparated. Yet, they found the scene in front of them unchanged. He could hear her breath hiss deeply at the strange situation.

"What happened?" Her voice asked him again.

"The ward… blocks us out."

* * *

 **A/N:** I remembered I promised to update the story up chapter 12 & 13 right after 11, but again, I took too long. As an apology, this chapter longer than usual (It's up to 9 pages when I finished in Doc). I won't make any promise for the future chapter, which I am guaranteed that they will eventually take more than 2 months to finish. So, please understand for me. Someone in Wattpad asked me how many chapters this story would go up to and I told her that it would be 20 chapters. However, I think it may go beyond that line a bit if I cannot wrap up the ending well. And there will absolutely no sequel. I don't do well with sequel. Last but not least, best thanks to all my readers and reviewers, who patiently waited for the next chapter. I appreciate all of your supports. Thanks and loves!

 **Specially thanks to my wonderful beta, Hero of Olympus in Disguise.**


	14. The Run

**Disclaimer:** All belong to J. K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Run**

They were on the run.

Ethelinda's right hand was dripping blood. Whoever cursed her did a very thorough job, she could not shake the pain away even with the help of Severus' potions. She blinked a few times to get a better look, but her eyes remained unclear. A wave of headaches came by, making the young woman hiss painfully and stop in her tracks. The headaches had begun to happen more frequently since her mother came back. She did not know if it was due to her injuries or something else.

Walking in front of her was Severus, whose condition was not any better than hers, but he had endured pains much worse in the past, these right now were nothing to compare. He noticed her sudden stop and turned around. The young woman's eyes were completely shut with her back resting against a tree. The sound of her breathing was uneven. He could tell that her injuries caused a difficulty in her breathing. His eyes were soft although his face remained impassive. The man made his way to the young woman and pulled her closer, resuming their path.

It had been more than ten hours since they miraculously escaped the wrath of Freya and they had not rested. Mostly because they feared that Freya would somehow figured out their location. Therefore, they had no choice but to kept moving. However, being running non stop like that had exhausted their body. And with their injuries, their energy went downhill quite fast. Right now, all they needed was a safe place to rest.

Severus put his arm around Ethelinda's waist, preventing her to lose her balance again. She barely opened her eyes and leaned completely against him. Their walk had slowed down due to both of their tiredness. Then, without a warning, her knees gave up and she fell down to the ground.

"Ethel, can you hear my voice?" Severus hurriedly pulled her close to him and asked. His fingers pressed onto the side of her neck, checking for her pulse. It was there but not very strong. He opened her eyes and looked at her irises and saw them dilate slowly. She was losing her strength and he quickly took out his emergency potions box. It was the third time of the day that he needed to feed her his potions.

They were in the middle of nowhere. He could not tell if they were close to a civilization or completely surrounded by trees. His gaze moved from tilting her head back a bit as he poured the potions down her throat, to observe the area. Then something caught his attention, a cave. It was barely visible due to the different layers of trees and molds. Yet, it was a perfect place for them to rest. Also, it had been ten hours, if her mother knew their location, she would already be here. Thus, he took a risk by choosing the cave for the night. Her condition began to get worse and without rest she would not last long.

His gaze was back at her. In moments like this he would forget the distance he tried to create between them for the past few days. Instead, the man's eyes could not hide his concern for the young woman. He did not even realize that he called her, _Ethel._

After he settled both of them in the cave, she regained consciousness. Her eyelids opened slowly. They stared at him for a second as if she was seeing something else and not him. Then she nodded and coughed hard, resting her head on his chest. Some blood spilled out from the corner of her lips. "You know I cannot die right?" She attempted to joke but it did not come out right. Her voice was weak and she was losing her focus again.

"Don't talk too much," he ordered gently. "You might escape death but a coma is awaiting if you keep bleeding like this."

"Where are we exactly?" she whispered again.

"In a forest," his oddly short reply met a soft chuckle from her and his lips curved up pleasurably. "I don't know exactly the location, but we're probably in somewhere in the far East."

"How do you know?" she asked curiously.

"We have passed a few trees which only grow in a warm and humid environment," his teaching voice suddenly came back. "And a few countries in the far East have the perfect condition for them to develop. That is why I know we are somewhere in the far East. I can do a spell to determine our location but that may draw unwanted attention from the ministry."

"Why can't we apparate back to the mansion?" she asked again as she remembered of their failure to retreat to the mansion.

"I don't know," he honestly answered, "but theoretically, the mansion no longer recognizes us as its master and mistress."

"Freya," she hissed the name in a disgusted tone. That woman must have something to do with the wards because no one would have known how to un-ward the place, except for the current head of the family and an ex-one. The woman clearly had planned well as she closed off their only way of retreat. She definitely had no intention of having her daughter stay alive after getting the box. Despite her mother's twisted plan, she was still amazed of how they managed to escape in the nick of time. Mostly thanks to two unexpected people, Jonathan and his mystery friend. They appeared right when Freya cast her signature spell to kill Severus.

" _Snape, take it and get Ethel away! Now!" Novas yelled from across the place as he threw a small amulet to Severus' hand. The older man flicked his wand and sent Freya's spell away from the two people. Jonathan followed shortly behind and quickly put up a strong protection spell around them, preventing Freya and her men to get closer. Apparently, Severus recognized Novas as he nodded at the man while Ethelinda had no idea of who was accompanying Jonathan._

 _It happened too quick. Before she was able to comprehend what was happening, Severus pulled her close to him as he flipped the amulet and they disappeared. The amulet was a portkey._

"You should have taken the chance," her hoarse voice whispered.

 _It was a short moment before Jonathan and Novas appeared. She had been hiding behind his back while he fought off any attack from Freya and her men. Her little hand clapped with his and their rings were brushed at each other._

" _I retrieved the item," she sent her thought to him. "You fulfilled your promise, and I think it's time for you to take your second chance."_

 _She waited for him to reply, to say that he would take the offer now, because she could see that their chance of surviving was very low. But his answer never came._

"No, I'm not leaving you behind, knowing you will not get out alive," he shook his head, patting her back gently.

"Sorry," she whispered.

"It's not your fault," he soothed her as his hand continued to move up and down slowly on her back. "I have made the promise to protect you and I will not break it until you're safe from… _everything_."

She did not say anything else, just continued to rest in his arms. It was one of the few rare moments they stayed close like this and she wanted to treasure it. She loved the sandalwood scent that his clothes gave off and sometimes a bit of peppermint. While she buried her face in his clothes, he was holding her tight. As much as his mind began to reason of how wrong their current position was, he did not want to let her go. His logical mind had lost the battle to his heart, the moment he held back to his arms again. He wanted to protect her, not because of their promise, but purely because his heart felt right to be there with her. Everything would be fine as long as they were together.

"I don't think they would follow us now," he finally spoke up but did not let her go. "There is a cave just a few meters away. We can stay there for the night."

"I think it's a good idea," she looked up and smiled at him.

His lips curved up and formed a very faint smile. Then they both stood up, unbalanced, and head to the nightfall was beginning to show.

oOo

"I never thought we would end up in this ditch," Novas cursed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Language, Novas," Jonathan groaned, leaning against the cold wall. "Well, at least we sent them away on time. I have no regrets now."

"I didn't plan for her to gain that much power," Novas sighed, remembering the moment Severus and Ethelinda disappeared, Freya had put both of them in a body bind with just a flick of her wand. "Did you notice that the magic around Ethel was flicking uncontrollably?"

"I did," Jonathan arched an eyebrow as the image of Ethelinda's magic leaking out without her noticing appeared in his mind. "Do you think it has something to do with Freya?"

"I'm not sure," Novas shook his head. "This is the first time I see someone's magic manifest beyond its capacity. However, I hope it has nothing to do with her mother. It's bad enough that the woman wants to kill her daughter. I don't want to see her devour her as well."

Jonathan nodded as he agreed with Novas. Freya's mind was not something they wanted to process. If she could kill her daughter without blinking her eyes, then eating was the least they would want to witness. "So what will happen to us now?"

"Torture us until we spill Ethel's location," Novas did not blurt out, his face was distant somehow. "Or starve us, and at the weakest point, I will consume you."

Jonathan chuckled but remained unmoved, "Well, that's something I want to see. I don't mind becoming a vampire. At least they don't run around and kill their family."

"We're not saints, Jonathan, but I have to agree with you that we don't attack our family," Novas closed his eyes and continued. "Being a vampire, we accommodate with loneliness. We can turn people, but how many of them willingly spend their eternal life with us? If their will is stronger than the lust of blood, then the turn will lose its effect and their body will dissolve into dust. Or they turn into something like a zombie, thirsty for blood but has no brain."

Novas' explanation ended with a long silence. Neither of them wanted to continue with the subject. Loneliness, they all experienced it, just in different forms.

oOo

The girl's eyes fixed on the boy, who lay on the bed with his eyes shut completely. It had been months since the end of the war. Many things had happened but the boy remained in a coma without any sign that he would wake up. People came and went, eventually, only she was left, waiting next to his bed.

The healer told her that his physical body was healed and well, but for some reasons, he refused to wake up. They even checked for Dark Magic or any type of curses, but found nothing. It was almost like he gave up with his life, which was not how the boy would do. He might have his temper, he might charge into a battle without a plan, but he was not the type to give up.

Hermione Granger crossed her arms, leaning against her chair, and watched his chest rise and fall. "What happened, Harry?" Her intuition told her that something was wrong but her hands were tied at the moment. With everyone busy to rebuild the society, she had no one to support and she could not leave Harry by himself. She worried that his condition was caused by an unknown curse, because there was fifteen minutes that he was inside a room by himself with no guard or protection wards. If anything had happened, it must have been in those minutes.

Sighing, Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and held tightly, "Please, wake up, Harry! We need you… I need you…"

oOo

Severus did not know how long he fell asleep but when he regained his conscious the rain was pouring like crazy. He heard a soft sigh and realized that Ethelinda had used his lap as her pillow the night before. He stroked her hair softly, letting his mind wonder off to the conversation they had before drifting to their sleep.

"Do you feel anything different than usual?" Severus suddenly asked as he reorganized his potions box.

"What do you mean by different?" Ethelinda leaned against the cave's wall for a more comfortable position.

"Are you sure nothing's changed?" He gave a questionable gaze back at her. "Neither physically, mentally, or magically?"

She did not miss the questionable tone in his voice. He was doubting her of hiding something from him. Honestly, she had no idea of any change, except for her headache.

"Would headache count?" she arched a brow, not sure if her answer was what he was looking for.

"Only headache?" he asked again as his eyes watched her curiously. "Does it happen before or after you meet your mother?"

Her gaze was unfocused as she was processing his question. _When does her headache begin?_ It had always been there but she was not paying much attention. However, she had a clear memory of when it began to become a bothersome. "Since I knew my mother's still alive."

He did not seem to be surprised at her answer. He had suspected that her mother's coming back had something to do with her uncontrollable magic. _Headache? Is it anything like Potter's symptom?_ He arched an eyebrow, observing the magic aura that's still floating around her. "Close your eyes," he suddenly ordered her.

"Why?" she asked softly, confused by his request.

"Just do it," he replied. "This is something you must feel in order to understand what I will tell you next."

He saw her lips twist a bit as if she tried to argue, but she eventually closed her eyes.

"Let your mind clear," he said. "And keep your breathing steady."

After a few minutes, she nodded at him, indicating that her mind was clear. "Now focus on your magic," he continued. "Channeling them and analyzing the differences."

For a short moment, Severus saw her aura changed from one color to another, and finally ended with a neutral one, white. It had become stabilized but it was only for a short time before the color changed again.

"What can you tell?" he finally asked when the color could not stay stable.

"I'm… confused," she was not sure of what she was experiencing. "Is something wrong with my… magic?"

"Yes," he nodded and started his explanation. "Your magic has became unstable since your meeting with Jonathan and it gets more dangerous when your mother arrives. I still don't know what has caused the change but right now, you need to keep your emotions at bay. If you get too upset, your magic will manifest by itself."

"What will happen then?" she asked worriedly.

"You know that at a young age, children with magical abilities do not have the capability to control their magic, which causes some of the accidental magic. And because they are young and their magic does not hold a great power. The accident usually causes a little harm to their environment. However, at your age, it is a different story. If you lose the hold of your magic, it will look for a release at an unnecessary time and can cause both destruction and damnation that the Wizarding World does not want to face."

Ethelinda was quiet as Severus finished his explanation. Her brows knitted in with high concentration. She noticed something was not right when she heard those two words, destruction and damnation. Her eyes suddenly brightened up as she remembered she had seen it before. She quickly dug into her coat's pocket and retrieved her great-grandmother's journal. She flipped the pages rather aggressively and finally found what she was looking for.

Severus could tell by reading her expression, the young woman just found out something unpleasant. He could see her blood completely drained away from her face, leaving a very pale and unnatural skin tone. She stayed frozen like that for a while, then she opened her mouth to say.

"I am _the_ destruction in my great-grandmother's prophecy."

* * *

 **A special thank to my wonderful beta: Hero of Olympus in Disguise**


	15. The Prophecy

**Disclaimer:** All belongs to J.K. Rowling

* * *

 **The Prophecy**

"A prophecy?" Severus arched his eyebrows, asking Ethelinda curiously. He knew she kept most of the things to herself but a prophecy was not something he had in mind. He eyed her with a watching look, waiting for the young woman to reveal more.

Ethelinda seemed to lose her voice after realizing her true role in this messy problem. She nodded and took her journal out together with the box they retrieved earlier. Putting the box down on the ground, she refocused back to the journal as her fingers flipped quickly through the pages, looking for something. After a few minutes, her hand stopped at one of the journal's pages. He could see her eyes bright up a bit before they became dull like before. She took a deep breath and showed him what she had found.

"Here," her small finger pointed to the marked page as she opened the journal in front of him.

Then, he saw it, the prophecy wrote neatly in a piece of a parchment, attached to the page by a clumsy tape. _That's odd._

"A birth of no origin conquers the power between the line,

As one falls the other will rise.

Destruction and damnation tie to an unnatural fate,

Without fear, nothing would be late.

Blood unites and love will conquer all,

'Till dawn only one would fall."

Severus read the words carefully. The last time he dealt with one, it did not turn out very pleasant and it had costed him deeply. Meanwhile, Ethelinda was watching him as closely as she could. His eyebrows knitted in multiples as he processed the prophecy. She bit her lower lip as her thought wondered back to their first meeting; she should have told him about this then, but it did not seem necessary at the time. Beside, she did not expect him to stay with her after their mission. Everything from now on would not be in her hands as usual. Also, she had a high belief that he would not join her if he knew there was a prophecy waiting for them.

"When I touched the box, I have a brief vision of my life," she spoke weakly, wincing at the memory from the vision. Severus looked up from the journal and watched her face. "I am not human." Her magic aura suddenly flashed and then dimmed after her announcement. He narrowed his eyes, observing the change of her magic. _Is it alive? Her magic?_

His eyes dashed back to her face and did not fail to notice the words she chose, " _not human."_ Something in her expression told him, that human aspect in her life was much more than she had let on. Beside, she was not someone like to repeat things, so he waited again.

"I always thought I was born from my mother and a vampire, but the vision let me see a different story," she closed her eyes and leaned back to the cave's wall. Her magic continued to flick back and forth, giving him such an uneasy feeling. "That woman made a deal with an unknown creature from beyond the veil and her result produced a thing that resembling human…"

"You," the word escaped his lips faster than he could stop it. He almost wanted to slap himself for his unthinkable action, but then, her reaction surprised him.

"Funny, is it?" she chuckled darkly and sadly without mentioning about his slipped word. "I have lived my whole life, believing in something that does not belong to me. I'm not a Lefevre, not an angel or even a vampire. She created me purely for her own purpose, somehow, the creature found a way to bind my blood to the Book. If she gets of hold of me, she would have the power to do anything."

Ethelinda turned her face away from Severus, refusing to see the pity in his eyes. "But it explains all of my questions: her cold, distant, and loveless. I'm not her daughter to begin with but rather a tool for her to achieve her goal…" Her voice was shaking with a high emotion. He could hear the change in her breathing, shaking with emotions. If he could say, he could have told her that he understood her feeling of being something that no-one wanted. However, his words died before they could escape his lips. Their situation might be similar but at the same time they were not. At least, he had a mother who desperately protected him with all she had against his abusive father. That small amount of her love was the only thing for him to clutch in a very long time until he met _Lily_. Suddenly, he frowned deeply as the memory of her. Something should have been there did not reappear as usual. His guilt of her death, his regret of calling her name, his loneliness of never seeing her smile… everything was _just_ a memory. Nothing more. The pain in his heart had replaced by a different one or rather a different person. It was no longer associated with his childhood friend and his one-side love, but… _her, Ethel._

"Will you surrender to your mother?" His calm but steady voice made her turn around and looked at him questionably. Her pale face and red eyes almost made the man want to pull her in his arms again. She looked lost and confused as much as

His question was strange, but in that moment, it clicked something in her mind. _Would she? Surrender herself to her mother? To a plan that would end the Magical world? Would she?_

Severus saw the change in Ethelinda's expression while she processed his question. It was a normal approach in her situation. Now that she knew about her origin and her destiny, it was a decision she would make it sooner or later. However, he had a feeling that she would continue her role as someone went against her mother than joined the woman. Also, he did not fail to notice that her magic aura was beginning to flick again. Gladly, her aura did not transform quickly as before but rather than changed slowly from one color to another. She was adjusting to her decision and so was her magic.

Ethelinda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had made her decision. It did not matter of where she was from or whose her parents were. She had chose her side the moment she knew about her mother's intention and it was the right decision. She did, almost, abandon her goal when the truth of her origin revealed. She believed that her mother's rejection was due to her father, who she refused to disclose. Unfortunately, she never looked at her at a daughter but simply a tool. If she had raise her as her own and loved her as a mother would, the outcome would have been very different. Human or not, she had chose her destiny and she would continue with it.

"I will not," Ethelinda finally spoke. The weariness in her voice disappeared and replaced by a much more confident one. "I choose this role and I will follow it until the end."

Severus almost smiled at Ethelinda's answer. In the small amount of time he knew her, he expected that answer more than her giving up. She could be strong head when she needed and even loyalty. He wondered if the Sorting Hat sorted her again, would she be in Gryffindor?

"Then take your rest, Ethel," Severus waved his wand at a nearby spot and a small blanket appeared. "We will decide everything else tomorrow."

However, when he looked back at her, he realized his mistake. He had accidentally called her _Ethel._ Her big eyes stared at him with a disbelief as if he was someone else rather than her partner for the past months. Yet, he did not fail to notice a soften expression on her face, and soon she smiled shyly at him.

"You call me, Ethel," A faint pink slowly crept on her cheeks while the young woman's eyes suddenly shied away from him. "Thank you."

Severus was taken back a bit and curiously at why she thanked him, but before he could utter his question, Ethelinda grabbed the blanket and laid her head on his laps.

"Please," she squeezed her eyes close and asked him softly. She needed some human-contacts right now. Nothing extreme, only a bit of his warm would have ease her little pain.

Severus held his breath and words seemed to disappear from his lips. Then, by the time he regained his conscious, the young woman fell asleep peacefully on his laps. He looked down to the young woman and his eyes were eventually softer. Sighing tiredly, he stroked her hair as his eyes slowly dropped. _They will deal with everything… tomorrow._

oOo

Severus turned his attention to the outside. The rain did not seem to stop. The forest looked like it was hiding inside a thick cloth of fog. He barely made out of anything. He cast a detecting charm to see if anything within 5 kilometers' range of the place had magical being. However, nothing came back. He moved Ethelinda's head to lay on his jacket while he walked close to the cave's entrance. He wave his wand and put up more wards, making sure that no-one would find out their location.

He leaned to the wall's cave and watched the rain. When he accepted her proposal, he did not expect to get himself into a different war. He thought it was a way out for him, and it did, but his sense of loyalty kept him from agreeing with her option. If he had agreed to take on her offer back then, what would happen to her? The young woman might inherit a strong power, but without a guide, he had a high doubt she would able to go very far. Beside, her mother already laid the traps for her to fall in. The woman had planned this for entire time, she differently knew her daughter's weaknesses and how to lure her to the trap. _She's experienceless._

While deep in his thought, Severus did not notice and Ethelinda began to awake. The first thing greeted her was a terrible headache. It was almost like a handover, but she never drunk to the point to experience such thing. Her eyes slowly opened and soon landed on the man that stood close the cave's entrance. Last night or yesterday cost more of her mentally capacity than usual. She did not expect to have another run from her mother who only revealed more of her ugliness. And William, she hoped with his skills and experiences, he would escape safely. However, she had a feeling the old man did not make it. He did have a strange allure of attracting danger.

Ethelinda got up and leaned tiredly to the wall's cave. Her movement caught Severus's attention and the man walked back to where she was sitting. "How are you feeling?"

"Headache, again," Ethelinda smiled weakly. "Now I am not sure if the headache is from my mother or it's a result from stress."

"It can be both," Severus chuckled while taking a small vial of potion from his jacket. "Drink this. It can ease your headache and give you some strengths back. We need to figure out where to go next."

Ethelinda tilted the vial to her lips and drank the liquid slowly. The potion was tasteless but it began to burn as it reached her throat. However, the sensation did not last for long, it transformed to a different feeling and as Severus mentioned, her headache gradually dropped. A happy sigh escaped her lips. Nothing is better than having her headache disappeared. Leaning back to the cave's wall, she spoke up, "We need to get back to the mansion. This box is the key to open the Book which currently residents inside my mother's room. However, I am not sure if she's able to gain the power to access to the mansion or not…"

"Do these rings support to determine which one is the owner of the mansion?" Severus cut Ethelinda's words, remembering the ownership transition they did couple weeks ago.

Ethelinda actually stared back at Severus as if she just heard something extraordinary, then she laughed. "Merlin! I honestly forgot them this whole time. Beside we could not apparate back then, I just assume that we lost the mansion to her." She punched lightly to Severus's arm, making the man stiff nervously. Her eyes opened wide as she realized what she was doing, "Sorry."

"It… It's ok," Severus coughed to regain his voice. "I have that thought since last night but we don't know where the portkey took us too, we can't try to apparate to the mansion. We might be in a different country."

"That's also true," she agreed. "I think we should wait until the sky is clear and head out to see where the forest leads us to. If we are lucky, we are somewhere in European territories."

Two hours later when the rain began to subside, Ethelinda followed Severus out of the cave and headed to the South. Apparently, Severus had been traveling for a while during his time as an apprentice. He learned a rather well information to not get lost in a forest. Therefore, when the man walked out of the cave, he felt the wind, touched the tree, observed the activities around him, before announcing where they would go.

Unfortunately, the moment he noticed the little Camellia Hongkongensis behind those large trees, he knew they were not in Europe. _Damn it!_ He swore annoyingly. He did have a feeling that those two men would send them somewhere unreachable, but this place, they did think a bit too far.

Ethelinda looked at the tense face of Severu Snape and sense something was wrong. "What happens?"

"Good news, we're definitely out of your mother's claw," Severus said blankly. "Bad news, we are not in Europe."

"Wait? What?" Severus's answered did not meet Ethelinda's expectation. "Where are we exactly?"

"Hong Kong!"

* * *

 **A/N:** Yah! I'm back lol Did you think I abandoned the story? No! I just had a very long writer's block (and lazy, it played a big part in my writing lol). Anyway, let's us continue with the adventure of Ethelinda and Severus. Apparently they are in Hong Kong now. How will the get back to England? Will they meet new people there? Everything will be answer in the next chapter :)


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